Shape measuring device

ABSTRACT

To provide a shape measuring device that enables a user to easily grasp a rough surface shape of a desired surface of a measurement object. A plurality of designated points are designated on a reference image RI. Light is irradiated on a plurality of portions of the measurement object corresponding to the plurality of designated points. Deviations of a plurality of portions with respect to an approximate plane are calculated. A deviation image is generated on the basis of the deviations. In the deviation image, the deviations of the plurality of portions of the measurement object respectively corresponding to the plurality of designated points are displayed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims foreign priority based on Japanese PatentApplication No. 2017-202068, filed Oct. 18, 2017, the contents of whichis incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shape measuring device that measuresa surface shape of a measurement object.

2. Description of Related Art

A shape measuring device is used in order to measure a surface shape ofa measurement object. For example, in a dimension measuring devicedescribed in JP-A-2010-43954 (Patent Literature 1), light radiated froma white light source is divided into a measurement light beam and areference light beam by an optical coupler.

The measurement light beam is scanned by measurement-object scanningoptical system and irradiated on any measurement point on the surface ofan object to be measured. The reference light beam is irradiated on areference-light scanning optical system. A surface height of themeasurement point of the object to be measured is calculated on thebasis of interference of the measurement light beam reflected by theobject to be measured and the reference light beam.

By using the dimension measuring device described in Patent Literature1, a shape of a desired portion of the measurement object can bemeasured. In this case, concerning a measurement object having a flatjoining surface, flatness of the joining surface can be calculated bymeasuring surface heights of a plurality of portions on the joiningsurface. Pass/fail of the measurement object can be determined on thebasis of the calculated flatness.

Concerning such a joining surface, it is desirable to grasp, more indetail, not only the flatness but also a state of unevenness of thesurface. However, even if a user of the shape measuring device can learnvalues of surface heights of a plurality of measurement points on thejoining surface, it is difficult to grasp a rough surface shape of thejoining surface from the plurality of values.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a shape measuringdevice that enables a user to easily grasp a rough surface shape of adesired surface of a measurement object.

(1) A shape measuring device according to the present inventionincludes: an image acquiring section configured to acquire a real imageincluding a measurement object; a position acquiring section configuredto acquire positions of a plurality of designated points on the realimage of the measurement object acquired by the image acquiring section;a light emitting section configured to emit light; a deflecting sectionconfigured to deflect the light emitted from the light emitting sectionand irradiate the light on the measurement object; a light receivingsection configured to receive the light from the measurement object andoutput a light reception signal indicating a received light amount; adriving control section configured to control the deflecting section toirradiate the light on a plurality of portions of the measurement objectcorresponding to the plurality of designated points; a coordinatecalculating section configured to calculate coordinates of a pluralityof portions of the measurement object on the basis of a deflectingdirection of the deflecting section or an irradiation position on thereal image of the light deflected by the deflecting section and thelight reception signal output by the light receiving section; a planeacquiring section configured to acquire an approximate plane specifiedby the coordinates of the plurality of portions calculated by thecoordinate calculating section; a deviation calculating sectionconfigured to calculate deviations of the plurality of portions withrespect to the approximate plane acquired by the plane acquiringsection; and a deviation-image generating section configured to generatea deviation image in which the plurality of portions are displayed indisplay forms corresponding to the deviations calculated by thedeviation calculating section.

In the shape measuring device, the real image including the measurementobject is acquired by the image acquiring section. The positions of theplurality of designated points on the real image of the measurementobject are acquired. The light emitted from the light emitting sectionis deflected by the deflecting section and irradiated on the measurementobject. The deflecting section is controlled to irradiate the light onthe plurality of portions of the measurement object corresponding to theplurality of designated points.

The coordinates of the plurality of portions of the measurement objectare calculated on the basis of the deflecting direction of thedeflecting section or the irradiation position on the real image of thelight deflected by the deflecting section and the light reception signaloutput by the light receiving section. The approximate plane specifiedby the calculated plurality of coordinates is acquired. The deviationsof the plurality of portions with respect to the acquired approximateplane are calculated. The deviation image is generated on the basis ofthe calculated deviations.

In the deviation image, the plurality of portions of the measurementobject corresponding to the plurality of designated points are displayedin the display forms corresponding to the calculated deviations.Consequently, a user can easily grasp a rough surface shape of a desiredsurface of the measurement object by visually recognizing the deviationimage.

(2) The shape measuring device may further include a display-formsetting section configured to set a correspondence relation betweendeviations and colors or densities. The deviation-image generatingsection may generate the deviation image on the basis of thecorrespondence relation set by the display-form setting section suchthat the plurality of portions are displayed in colors or densitiescorresponding to the deviations calculated by the deviation calculatingsection.

In this case, the user can more easily intuitively grasp the roughsurface shape of the desired surface of the measurement object byvisually recognizing the deviation image.

(3) The deviation calculating section may calculate a deviation of aregion other than the plurality of portions of the measurement object byinterpolating the calculated deviations of the plurality of portions.The deviation-image generating section may generate the deviation imagesuch that the region of the measurement object other than the pluralityof portions is further displayed in a display form corresponding to thedeviation calculated by the interpolation.

In this case, in the deviation image, in addition to the plurality ofportions of the measurement object corresponding to the plurality ofdesignated points, the region of the measurement object other than theplurality of portions is displayed in the display form corresponding tothe deviation calculated by the interpolation. Consequently, even whenthe number of designated points is small, the user can easily grasp thesurface shape of the desired surface of the measurement object over awide range by visually recognizing the deviation image.

(4) The shape measuring device may further include a display section.The image acquiring section may display the acquired real image on thedisplay section. The deviation-image generating section may superimposeand display the generated deviation image on the real image displayed onthe display section.

In this case, the user can grasp the surface shape of the desiredsurface of the measurement object while visually recognizing theexterior of the measurement object. Therefore, the user can easily graspcorrespondence between the exterior of the desired surface of themeasurement object and the surface shape.

(5) The position acquiring section may superimpose and displayindicators indicating the acquired positions of the plurality ofdesignated points on the real image displayed on the display section.

In this case, the user can grasp the positions of the plurality ofdesignated points while visually recognizing the exterior of themeasurement object.

(6) The deviation calculating section may calculate, on the basis of theapproximate plane acquired by the plane acquiring section and thedeviations of the plurality of portions, flatnesses of the plurality ofportions with respect to the approximate plane.

In this case, the user can grasp the flatness together with the roughsurface shape of the desired surface of the measurement object.

(7) The position acquiring section may receive designation of ameasurement point on the real image acquired by the image acquiringsection. The driving control section may further control the deflectingsection to irradiate the light on a portion of the measurement objectcorresponding to the measurement point. The shape measuring device mayfurther include a height calculating section configured to calculateheight of a measurement portion of the measurement object correspondingto the measurement point on the basis of the deflecting direction of thedeflecting section or the irradiation position on the real image of thelight deflected by the deflecting section and the light reception signaloutput by the light receiving section.

In this case, the user can designate the measurement point whileconfirming the measurement object on the real image including themeasurement object. The height of the portion of the measurement objectcorresponding to the measurement point designated on the real image isautomatically calculated. Consequently, the user can efficiently andaccurately measure a shape of a desired portion of the measurementobject.

(8) The position acquiring section may further receive designation ofone or a plurality of reference points on the real image acquired by theimage acquiring section. The driving control section may control thedeflecting section to irradiate the light on a portion or portions ofthe measurement object corresponding to the one or the plurality ofreference points. The coordinate calculating section may furthercalculate a coordinate of the measurement portion of the measurementobject and a coordinate or coordinates of one or a plurality ofreference portions of the measurement object corresponding to the one orthe plurality of reference points on the basis of the deflectingdirection of the deflecting section or the irradiation position on thereal image of the light deflected by the deflecting section and thelight reception signal output by the light receiving section. The shapemeasuring device may further include a reference-plane acquiring sectionconfigured to acquire a reference plane on the basis of the coordinateor the coordinates of the one or the plurality of reference portions ofthe measurement object calculated by the coordinate calculating section.The height calculating section may calculate, on the basis of thecoordinate of the measurement portion of the measurement objectcalculated by the coordinate calculating section, height of themeasurement portion of the measurement object based on the referenceplane acquired by the reference-plane acquiring section.

In this case, the user can easily designate the reference plane servingas a reference for the height of the measurement object by designatingone or a plurality of reference points on the real image including themeasurement object. Consequently, relative height of the measurementportion of the measurement object with respect to a desired referenceplane can be acquired.

(9) The shape measuring device may be configured to selectively operatein a setting mode and a measurement mode. The shape measuring device mayfurther include a registering section. The position acquiring sectionmay receive, in the setting mode, a plurality of designated points onthe real image including a first measurement object. The registeringsection may register, in the setting mode, the plurality of designatedpoints received by the position acquiring section. The driving controlsection may control, in the measurement mode, the deflecting section toirradiate the light on a plurality of portions of a second measurementobject corresponding to the plurality of designated points registered bythe registering section. The coordinate calculating section maycalculate, in the measurement mode, coordinates of the plurality ofportions of the second measurement object on the basis of the deflectingdirection of the deflecting section or the positions of the plurality ofdesignated points on the real image and the light reception signaloutput by the light receiving section. The plane acquiring section mayacquire, in the measurement mode, an approximate plane specified by thecoordinates of the plurality of portions of the second measurementobject calculated by the coordinate calculating section. The deviationcalculating section may calculate, in the measurement mode, deviationsof the plurality of portions of the second measurement object withrespect to the approximate plane acquired by the plane acquiringsection. The deviation-image generating section may generate, in themeasurement mode, a deviation image in which the plurality of portionsof the second measurement object are displayed in display formscorresponding to the deviations calculated by the deviation calculatingsection.

In this case, the plurality of designated points are received in thesetting mode, whereby the received plurality of designated points areregistered by the registering section. In the measurement mode, thecoordinates of the plurality of portions of the second measurementobject corresponding to the registered plurality of designated pointsare automatically calculated. The deviation image is generated on thebasis of the calculated coordinates of the plurality of portions of thesecond measurement object. Consequently, a skilled user sets theplurality of designated points in the setting mode, whereby, in themeasurement mode, even when the user is not skilled, the user canacquire an appropriate deviation image. Therefore, the user can grasp arough surface state of a surface to be observed in the measurementobject.

According to the present invention, the user can easily grasp a roughsurface shape of a desired surface of the measurement object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a shapemeasuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exterior perspective view showing a stand section shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the standsection and a measurement head;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a measuringsection;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a referencesection;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a focusingsection;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a scanningsection;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen displayedon a display section of the shape measuring device;

FIGS. 9A to 9C are diagrams showing contents of data transmitted betweena control section and a control board in operation modes;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a control system of the shapemeasuring device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a report prepared by a reportpreparing section;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an example of shape measurementprocessing executed in the shape measuring device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the example of the shapemeasurement processing executed in the shape measuring device shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the example of the shapemeasurement processing executed in the shape measuring device shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the example of the shapemeasurement processing executed in the shape measuring device shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the example of the shapemeasurement processing executed in the shape measuring device shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the example of the shapemeasurement processing executed in the shape measuring device shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining an example of designation andmeasurement processing by the control board;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining the example of the designation andmeasurement processing by the control board;

FIGS. 20A to 20C are explanatory diagrams for explaining the designationand measurement processing shown in FIGS. 18 and 19;

FIGS. 21A and 21B are explanatory diagrams for explaining thedesignation and measurement processing shown in FIGS. 18 and 19;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the designationand measurement processing by the control board;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining the other example of thedesignation and measurement processing by the control board;

FIGS. 24A and 24B are explanatory diagrams for explaining thedesignation and measurement processing shown in FIGS. 22 and 23;

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of the shapemeasuring device in a setting mode;

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the operation example of the shapemeasuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining the operation example of the shapemeasuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining the operation example of the shapemeasuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining the operation example of the shapemeasuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining the operation example of the shapemeasuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining another operation example of theshape measuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining the other operation example of theshape measuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining the other operation example of theshape measuring device in the setting mode;

FIG. 34 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of the shapemeasuring device in a measurement mode;

FIG. 35 is a diagram for explaining the operation example of the shapemeasuring device in the measurement mode;

FIG. 36 is a diagram for explaining the operation example of the shapemeasuring device in the measurement mode;

FIG. 37 is an exterior perspective view showing an example of ameasurement object;

FIG. 38 is a diagram for explaining an operation example for performingsetting for acquiring a deviation image and flatness in the settingmode;

FIG. 39 is a diagram for explaining the operation example for performingthe setting for acquiring a deviation image and flatness in the settingmode;

FIG. 40 is a diagram for explaining the operation example for performingthe setting for acquiring a deviation image and flatness in the settingmode;

FIG. 41 is a diagram for explaining the operation example for performingthe setting for acquiring a deviation image and flatness in the settingmode;

FIG. 42 is a diagram for explaining the operation example for performingthe setting for acquiring a deviation image and flatness in the settingmode; and

FIG. 43 is a diagram showing an example of a deviation image in whichindicators indicating a plurality of designated points are used.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS (1) Overall Configuration of a ShapeMeasuring Device

A shape measuring device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is explained below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is ablock diagram showing an overall configuration of the shape measuringdevice according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 isan exterior perspective view showing a stand section 100 shown inFIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a shape measuring device 400 includes thestand section 100, a measurement head 200, and a processing device 300.

The stand section 100 has an L shape in longitudinal cross section andincludes a setting section 110, a holding section 120, and a lift 130.The setting section 110 has a horizontal flat shape and is set on asetting surface. As shown in FIG. 2, a square optical surface plate 111on which a measurement object S (FIG. 1) is placed is provided on theupper surface of the setting section 110. A measurement region V wherethe measurement object S can be measured by the measurement head 200 isdefined above the optical surface plate 111. In FIG. 2, the measurementregion V is indicated by a dotted line.

In the optical surface plate 111, a plurality of screw holes are formedto be arranged at equal intervals in two directions orthogonal to eachother. Consequently, it is possible to fix the measurement object S tothe optical surface plate 111 using a clamp member and a screw member ina state in which the surface of the measurement object S is located inthe measurement region V.

The holding section 120 is provided to extend upward from one endportion of the setting section 110. The measurement head 200 is attachedto the upper end portion of the holding section 120 to be opposed to theupper surface of the optical surface plate 111. In this case, since themeasurement head 200 and the setting section 110 are held by the holdingsection 120, it is easy to handle the shape measuring device 400. Sincethe measurement object S is placed on the optical surface plate 111 onthe setting section 110, the measurement object S can be easily locatedin the measurement region V.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lift 130 is provided on the inside of theholding section 120. The lift 130 can move the measurement head 200 inthe up-down direction (the height direction of the measurement object S)with respect to the measurement object S on the optical surface plate111. The measurement head 200 includes a control board 210, an imagingsection 220, an optical section 230, a light guide section 240, areference section 250, a focusing section 260, and a scanning section270. The control board 210 includes, for example, a CPU (centralprocessing unit), a ROM (read only memory), and a RAM (random accessmemory). The control board 210 may be configured by a microcomputer.

The control board 210 is connected to the processing device 300. Thecontrol board 210 controls the operations of the lift 130, the imagingsection 220, the optical section 230, the reference section 250, thefocusing section 260, and the scanning section 270 on the basis ofcommands by the processing device 300. The control board 210 givesvarious kinds of information acquired from the imaging section 220, theoptical section 230, the reference section 250, the focusing section260, and the scanning section 270 to the processing device 300. Theimaging section 220 generates image data of the measurement object S byimaging the measurement object S placed on the optical surface plate 111and gives the generated image data to the control board 210.

The optical section 230 emits emission light having temporally lowcoherency to the light guide section 240. The light guide section 240divides the emission light from the optical section 230 into referencelight and measurement light, guides the reference light to the referencesection 250, and guides the measurement light to the focusing section260. The reference section 250 reflects the reference light to the lightguide section 240. The focusing section 260 focuses the measurementlight that passes through the focusing section 260. The scanning section270 scans the measurement light focused by the focusing section 260 tothereby irradiate the measurement light on a desired portion of themeasurement object S.

A part of the measurement light irradiated on the measurement object Sis reflected by the measurement object S and guided to the light guidesection 240 through the scanning section 270 and the focusing section260. The light guide section 240 generates interference light of thereference light reflected by the reference section 250 and themeasurement light reflected by the measurement object S and guides theinterference light to the optical section 230. The optical section 230detects a received light amount for each of wavelengths of theinterference light and gives a signal indicating a result of thedetection to the control board 210. Details of the measurement head 200are explained below.

The processing device 300 includes a control section 310, a storingsection 320, an operation section 330, and a display section 340. Thecontrol section 310 includes, for example, a CPU. The storing section320 includes, for example, a ROM, a RAM, and a HDD (hard disk drive). Asystem program is stored in the storing section 320. The storing section320 is used for storage of various data and processing of the data.

The control section 310 gives, on the basis of the system program storedin the storing section 320, a command for controlling the operations ofthe imaging section 220, the optical section 230, the reference section250, the focusing section 260, and the scanning section 270 of themeasurement head 200 to the control board 210. The control section 310acquires various kinds of information from the control board 210 of themeasurement head 200 and causes the storing section 320 to store thevarious kinds of information.

The operation section 330 includes a pointing device such as a mouse, atouch panel, a trackball, or a joystick and a keyboard. The operationsection 330 is operated by a user in order to give an instruction to thecontrol section 310. The display section 340 includes, for example, anLCD (liquid crystal display) panel or an organic EL(electroluminescence) panel. The display section 340 displays an imagebased on image data stored in the storing section 320, a measurementresult, and the like.

(2) The Lift and the Light Guide Section

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the standsection 100 and the measurement head 200. In FIG. 3, detailedconfigurations of the lift 130, the optical section 230, and the lightguide section 240 are shown. As shown in FIG. 3, the lift 130 includes adriving section 131, a driving circuit 132, and a reading section 133.

The driving section 131 is, for example, a motor. As indicated by athick arrow in FIG. 3, the driving section 131 moves the measurementhead 200 in the up-down direction with respect to the measurement objectS on the optical surface plate 111. Consequently, it is possible toadjust an optical path length of measurement light over a wide range.The optical path length of the measurement light is the length of anoptical path from the time when the measurement light is output from aport 245 d of the light guide section 240 explained below until themeasurement light reflected by the measurement object S is input to theport 245 d.

The driving circuit 132 is connected to the control board 210. Thedriving circuit 132 drives the driving section 131 on the basis of thecontrol by the control board 210. The reading section 133 is, forexample, an optical linear encoder. The reading section 133 reads adriving amount of the driving section 131 to thereby detect a positionin the up-down direction of the measurement head 200. The readingsection 133 gives a result of the detection to the control board 210.

The optical section 230 includes a light emitting section 231 and ameasuring section 232. The light emitting section 231 includes, forexample, an SLD (super luminescent diode) as a light source and emitsemission light having relatively low coherency. Specifically, thecoherency of the emission light is higher than the coherency of light orwhite light emitted by an LED (light emitting diode) and lower than thecoherency of laser light. Therefore, the emission light has a wavelengthband width smaller than the wavelength band width of the light or thewhite light emitted by the LED and larger than the wavelength band widthof the laser light. The emission light from the optical section 230 isinput to the light guide section 240.

Interference light from the light guide section 240 is output to themeasuring section 232. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing theconfiguration of the measuring section 232. As shown in FIG. 4, themeasuring section 232 includes lenses 232 a and 232 c, a spectralsection 232 b, and a light receiving section 232 d. Interference lightoutput from an optical fiber 242 of the light guide section 240explained below passes through the lens 232 a to thereby besubstantially collimated and made incident on the spectral section 232b. The spectral section 232 b is, for example, a reflective diffractiongrating. Light made incident on the spectral section 232 b is spectrallydispersed to reflect at angles different for each of wavelengths andpasses through the lens 232 c to thereby be focused on one-dimensionalpositions different for each of the wavelengths.

The light receiving section 232 d includes, for example, an imagingelement (a one-dimensional line sensor) in which a plurality of pixelsare one-dimensionally arrayed. The imaging element may be amulti-division PD (photodiode), a CCD (charge coupled device) camera, ora CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensor or may beother elements. The light receiving section 232 d is disposed such thata plurality of pixels of the imaging element respectively receive lightsin a different focusing positions different for each of wavelengthsformed by the lens 232 c.

Analog electric signals corresponding to received light amounts(hereinafter referred to as light reception signals) are output from thepixels of the light receiving section 232 d and given to the controlboard 210 shown in FIG. 3. Consequently, the control board 210 acquiresdata indicating a relation between the pixels of the light receivingsection 232 d (the wavelength of interference light) and the receivedlight amount. The control board 210 performs a predetermined arithmeticoperation and predetermined processing on the data to thereby calculateheight of a portion of the measurement object S.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light guide section 240 includes four opticalfibers 241, 242, 243, and 244, a fiber coupler 245, and a lens 246. Thefiber coupler 245 has a so-called 2×2 configuration and includes fourports 245 a, 245 b, 245 c, and 245 d and a main body section 245 e. Theports 245 a and 245 b and the ports 245 c and 245 d are provided in themain body section 245 e to be opposed to each other across the main bodysection 245 e.

The optical fiber 241 is connected between the light emitting section231 and the port 245 a. The optical fiber 242 is connected between themeasuring section 232 and the port 245 b. The optical fiber 243 isconnected between the reference section 250 and the port 245 c. Theoptical fiber 244 is connected between the focusing section 260 and theport 245 d. Note that, in this embodiment, the optical fiber 243 islonger than the optical fibers 241, 242, and 244. The lens 246 isdisposed on an optical path of the optical fiber 243 and the referencesection 250.

Emission light from the light emitting section 231 is input to the port245 a through the optical fiber 241. A part of the emission light inputto the port 245 a is output from the port 245 c as reference light. Thereference light passes through the optical fiber 243 and the lens 246 tothereby be substantially collimated and guided to the reference section250. The reference light reflected by the reference section 250 is inputto the port 245 c through the lens 246 and the optical fiber 243.

Another part of the emission light input to the port 245 a is outputfrom the port 245 d as measurement light. The measurement light isirradiated on the measurement object S through the optical fiber 244,the focusing section 260, and the scanning section 270. A part of themeasurement light reflected by the measurement object S is input to theport 245 d through the scanning section 270, the focusing section 260,and the optical fiber 244. The reference light input to the port 245 cand the measurement light input to the port 245 d are output from theport 245 b as interference light and guided to the measuring section 232through the optical fiber 242.

(3) The Reference Section

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the referencesection 250. As shown in FIG. 5, the reference section 250 includes afixed section 251, linearly extending linear guides 251 g, movablesections 252 a and 252 b, a fixed mirror 253, movable mirrors 254 a, 254b, and 254 c, driving sections 255 a and 255 b, driving circuits 256 aand 256 b, and reading sections 257 a and 257 b. The fixed section 251and the linear guides 251 g are fixed to a main body of the measurementhead 200. The movable sections 252 a and 252 b are attached to thelinear guides 251 g to be capable of moving along a direction in whichthe linear guides 251 g extend.

The fixed mirror 253 is attached to the fixed section 251. The movablemirrors 254 a and 254 c are attached to the movable section 252 a. Themovable mirror 254 b is attached to the movable section 252 b. Themovable mirror 254 c is used as a so-called reference mirror. Themovable mirror 254 c is desirably configured by a corner cube. In thiscase, it is possible to easily array optical members.

The reference light output from the optical fiber 243 passes through thelens 246 to thereby be substantially collimated and thereaftersequentially reflected by the fixed mirror 253, the movable mirror 254a, the movable mirror 254 b, and the movable mirror 254 c. The referencelight reflected by the movable mirror 254 c is sequentially reflected bythe movable mirror 254 b, the movable mirror 254 a, and the fixed mirror253 and input to the optical fiber 243 through the lens 246.

The driving sections 255 a and 255 b are, for example, voice coilmotors. As indicated by white arrows in FIG. 5, the driving sections 255a and 255 b respectively move, with respect to the fixed section 251,the movable sections 252 a and 252 b in the direction in which thelinear guides 251 g extend. In this case, in a direction parallel to themoving direction of the movable sections 252 a and 252 b, the distancebetween the fixed mirror 253 and the movable mirror 254 a, the distancebetween the movable mirror 254 a and the movable mirror 254 b, and thedistance between the movable mirror 254 b and the movable mirror 254 cchange. Consequently, it is possible to adjust an optical path length ofthe reference light.

The optical path length of the reference light is the length of anoptical path from the time when the reference light is output from theport 245 c shown in FIG. 3 until the reference light reflected by themovable mirror 254 c is input to the port 245 c. When a differencebetween the optical path length of the reference light and the opticalpath length of the measurement light is equal to or smaller than a fixedvalue, interference light of the reference light and the measurementlight is output from the port 245 b shown in FIG. 3.

In this embodiment, the movable sections 252 a and 252 b move inopposite directions each other along the direction in which the linearguides 251 g extend. However, the present invention is not limited tothis. Either one of the movable section 252 a and the movable section252 b may move along the direction in which the linear guides 251 gextend and the other may not move. In this case, the unmoving othermovable section 252 a or 252 b may be fixed to the fixed section 251 orthe main body of the measurement head 200 rather than the linear guides251 g as an unmovable section.

The driving circuits 256 a and 256 b are connected to the control board210 shown in FIG. 3. The driving circuits 256 a and 256 b respectivelydrive the driving sections 255 a and 255 b on the basis of the controlby the control board 210. The reading sections 257 a and 257 b are, forexample, optical linear encoders. The reading section 257 a reads adriving amount of the driving section 255 a to thereby detect a relativeposition of the movable section 252 a with respect to the fixed section251 and gives a result of the detection to the control board 210. Thereading section 257 b reads a driving amount of the driving section 255b to thereby detect a relative position of the movable section 252 bwith respect to the fixed section 251 and gives a result of thedetection to the control board 210.

(4) The Focusing Section

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the focusingsection 260. As shown in FIG. 6, the focusing section 260 includes afixed section 261, a movable section 262, a movable lens 263, a drivingsection 264, a driving circuit 265, and a reading section 266. Themovable section 262 is attached to the fixed section 261 to be capableof moving along one direction. The movable lens 263 is attached to themovable section 262. The movable lens 263 is used as an objective lensand focuses the measurement light that passes through the movable lens263.

The measurement light output from the optical fiber 244 is guided to thescanning section 270 shown in FIG. 3 through the movable lens 263. Apartof the measurement light reflected by the measurement object S shown inFIG. 3 passes through the scanning section 270 and thereafter is inputto the optical fiber 244 through the movable lens 263.

The driving section 264 is, for example, a voice coil motor. Asindicated by a thick arrow in FIG. 6, the driving section 264 moves themovable section 262 in one direction (a traveling direction of themeasurement light) with respect to the fixed section 261. Consequently,it is possible to locate a focus of the measurement light on the surfaceof the measurement object S.

The driving circuit 265 is connected to the control board 210 shown inFIG. 3. The driving circuit 265 drives the driving section 264 on thebasis of the control by the control board 210. The reading section 266is, for example, an optical linear encoder. The reading section 266reads a driving amount of the driving section 264 to thereby detect arelative position of the movable section 262 (the movable lens 263) withrespect to the fixed section 261. The reading section 266 gives a resultof the detection to the control board 210.

Note that a collimator lens that collimates the measurement light outputfrom the optical fiber 244 may be disposed between the optical fiber 244and the movable lens 263. In this case, the measurement light madeincident on the movable lens 263 is collimated. A beam diameter of themeasurement light does not change irrespective of a moving position ofthe movable lens 263. Therefore, it is possible to form the movable lens263 small.

(5) The Scanning Section

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the scanningsection 270. As shown in FIG. 7, the scanning section 270 includesdeflecting sections 271 and 272, driving circuits 273 and 274, andreading sections 275 and 276. The deflecting section 271 is configuredby, for example, a galvanometer mirror and includes a driving section271 a and a reflecting section 271 b. The driving section 271 a is, forexample, a motor having a rotating shaft in a substantiallyperpendicular direction. The reflecting section 271 b is attached to therotating shaft of the driving section 271 a. The measurement lightpassed through the optical fiber 244 to the focusing section 260 shownin FIG. 3 is guided to the reflecting section 271 b. The driving section271 a rotates, whereby a reflection angle of the measurement lightreflected by the reflecting section 271 b changes in a substantiallyhorizontal plane.

Like the deflecting section 271, the deflecting section 272 isconfigured by, for example, a galvanometer mirror and includes a drivingsection 272 a and a reflecting section 272 b. The driving section 272 ais, for example, a motor including a rotating shaft in the horizontaldirection. The reflecting section 272 b is attached to the rotatingshaft of the driving section 272 a. The measurement light reflected bythe reflecting section 271 b is guided to the reflecting section 272 b.The driving section 272 a is rotated, whereby a reflection angle of themeasurement light reflected by the reflecting section 272 b changes in asubstantially perpendicular surface.

In this way, the driving sections 271 a and 272 a rotate, whereby themeasurement light is scanned in two directions orthogonal to each otheron the surface of the measurement object S shown in FIG. 3.Consequently, it is possible to irradiate the measurement light on anyposition on the surface of the measurement object S. The measurementlight irradiated on the measurement object S is reflected on the surfaceof the measurement object S. Apart of the reflected measurement light issequentially reflected by the reflecting section 272 b and thereflecting section 271 b and thereafter guided to the focusing section260 shown in FIG. 3.

The driving circuits 273 and 274 are connected to the control board 210shown in FIG. 3. The driving circuits 273 and 274 respectively drive thedriving sections 271 a and 272 a on the basis of the control by thecontrol board 210. The reading sections 275 and 276 are, for example, anoptical rotary encoder. The reading section 275 reads a driving amountof the driving section 271 a to thereby detect an angle of thereflecting section 271 b and gives a result of the detection to thecontrol board 210. The reading section 276 reads a driving amount of thedriving section 272 a to thereby detect an angle of the reflectingsection 272 b and gives a result of the detection to the control board210.

(6) Operation Modes

The shape measuring device 400 shown in FIG. 1 operates in an operationmode selected from a plurality of operation modes by the user.Specifically, the operation modes include a setting mode, a measurementmode, and a height gauge mode. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example ofa selection screen 341 displayed on the display section 340 of the shapemeasuring device 400.

As shown in FIG. 8, on the selection screen 341 of the display section340, a setting button 341 a, a measurement button 341 b, and a heightgauge button 341 c are displayed. The user operates the setting button341 a, the measurement button 341 b, and the height gauge button 341 cusing the operation section 330 shown in FIG. 1, whereby the shapemeasuring device 400 operates respectively in the setting mode, themeasurement mode, and the height gauge mode.

In the following explanation, among users, a skilled user who managesmeasurement work of the measurement object S is referred to asmeasurement manager as well and a user who performs the measurement workof the measurement object S under the management of the measurementmanger is referred to as measurement operator as appropriate. Thesetting mode is mainly used by the measurement manager. The measurementmode is mainly used by the measurement operator.

In the shape measuring device 400, a three-dimensional coordinate systempeculiar to a space including the measurement region V shown in FIG. 2is defined in advance by an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis. The X axisand the Y axis are parallel to the optical surface plate 111 shown inFIG. 2 and orthogonal to each other. The Z axis is orthogonal to the Xaxis and the Y axis. In the operation modes, data of a coordinatespecified by the coordinate system and data of a plane coordinate on animage acquired by imaging of the imaging section 220 are transmittedbetween the control section 310 and the control board 210. FIGS. 9A to9C are diagrams showing contents of data transmitted between the controlsection 310 and the control board 210 in the operation modes.

In the setting mode, the measurement manager can register informationconcerning a desired measurement object S in the shape measuring device400. Specifically, the measurement manager places the desiredmeasurement object S on the optical surface plate 111 shown in FIG. 2and images the measurement object S with the imaging section 220 shownin FIG. 3. The measurement manager designates, on the image, as ameasurement point, a portion to be measured of the measurement object Sdisplayed on the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1. In this case, asshown in FIG. 9A, the control section 310 gives a plane coordinate (Ua,Va) specified by the measurement point designated on the image to thecontrol board 210.

The control board 210 specifies a three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc,Zc) of a position corresponding to the plane coordinate (Ua, Va) in themeasurement region V shown in FIG. 2 and gives the specifiedthree-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) to the control section 310.The control section 310 causes the storing section 320 shown in FIG. 1to store the three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) given by thecontrol board 210 along with the measurement point. The control section310 calculates height of the portion corresponding to the measurementpoint on the basis of information such as the three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) stored in the storing section 320 and areference plane explained below and causes the storing section 320 tostore a result of the calculation.

Further, in the setting mode, the measurement manager can register, inthe shape measuring device 400, setting information for acquiring adeviation image and flatness explained below concerning a desired planein the measurement object S. Specifically, as in the designation of themeasurement point, the measurement manager designates, on an image, aplurality of portions on the desired plane of the measurement object Sdisplayed on the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1. The portionsdesignated at this time are referred to as designated points.

In this case, as in the example shown in FIG. 9A, the control section310 gives the plane coordinate (Ua, Va) specified by the designatedpoint designated on the image to the control board 210. Consequently,the three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to thedesignated point is given from the control board 210 to the controlsection 310. The control section 310 causes the storing section 320 tostore, as setting information for acquiring a deviation image andflatness, together with a plurality of designated points, a plurality ofthree-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) respectively corresponding tothe plurality of designated points. At this time, the control section310 generates a deviation image and calculates flatness on the basis ofthe given plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) andcauses the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display a calculationresult of the deviation image and the flatness.

The measurement mode is used to measure the height of the portioncorresponding to the measurement point concerning the measurement objectS of the same type as the measurement object S, the information of whichis registered in the shape measuring device 400 in the setting mode.Specifically, the measurement operator places, on the optical surfaceplate 111, the measurement object S of the same type as the measurementobject S, the information of which is registered in the shape measuringdevice 400 in the setting mode, and images the measurement object S withthe imaging section 220. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9B, the controlsection 310 gives the three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) storedin the storing section 320 in the setting mode to the control board 210.

The control board 210 calculates a three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb,Zb) of the portion of the measurement object S corresponding to themeasurement point on the basis of the acquired three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc). The control board 210 gives the calculatedthree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) to the control section 310.The control section 310 calculates height of the portion correspondingto the measurement point on the basis of information such as thethree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) given by the control board 210and the reference plane explained below. The control section 310 causesthe display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display a result of thecalculation.

In this way, in the measurement mode, the measurement operator canacquire the height of the portion that should be measured of themeasurement object S without designating the portion. Therefore, evenwhen the measurement operator is not skilled, it is possible to easilyand accurately measure a shape of a desired portion of the measurementobject. The three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) is stored in thestoring section 320 in the setting mode. Therefore, in the measurementmode, it is possible to quickly specify the portion corresponding to themeasurement point on the basis of the stored three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc).

In this embodiment, in the setting mode, the three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to the plane coordinate (Ua, Va)is specified and stored in the storing section 320. However, the presentinvention is not limited to this. In the setting mode, a planecoordinate (Xc, Yc) corresponding to the plane coordinate (Ua, Va) maybe specified and a component Zc of the Z axis may be not specified. Inthis case, the specified plane coordinate (Xc, Yc) is stored in thestoring section 320. In the measurement mode, the plane coordinate (Xc,Yc) stored in the storing section 320 is given to the control board 210.

In the measurement mode, when the setting information for acquiring adeviation image and flatness is registered in the setting mode, thecontrol section 310 and the control board 210 operate as explainedbelow. When the setting information for acquiring a deviation image andflatness is registered, the plurality of three-dimensional coordinates(Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to the plurality of designated points areregistered. Therefore, as in the example shown in FIG. 9B, the controlsection 310 gives the plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xc,Yc, Zc) corresponding to the plurality of designated points designatedin the setting mode to the control board 210. The control board 210calculates a plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xb, Yb, Zb) ofportions of the measurement object S corresponding to the plurality ofdesignated points on the basis of the acquired three-dimensionalcoordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) and gives the three-dimensional coordinates(Xb, Yb, Zb) to the control section 310. The control section 310generates a deviation image and calculates flatness on the basis of theplurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xb, Yb, Zb) given from thecontrol board 210. Further, the control section 310 causes the displaysection 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display a calculation result of thedeviation image and the flatness.

The height gauge mode is used by the user to designate a desired portionof the measurement object S as the measurement point on the screen andmeasure height of the portion while confirming the measurement objectSon the screen. Specifically, the user places the desired measurementobject S on the optical surface plate 111 and images the measurementobject S with the imaging section 220. The user designates, as themeasurement point, a portion that should be measured on an image of themeasurement object S displayed on the display section 340. In this case,as shown in FIG. 9C, the control section 310 gives the plane coordinate(Ua, Va) specified by the designated measurement point on the image tothe control board 210.

The control board 210 specifies a three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc,Zc) of the position corresponding to the plane coordinate (Ua, Va) inthe measurement region V shown in FIG. 2 and calculates athree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of the portion of themeasurement object S corresponding to the measurement point on the basisof the specified three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc). The controlboard 210 gives the calculated three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb)to the control section 310. The control section 310 calculates height ofthe portion corresponding to the measurement point on the basis ofinformation such as the three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) givenby the control board 210 and the reference plane explained below andcauses the display section 340 to display a result of the calculation.

In the height gauge mode as well, the user can acquire a deviation imageand flatness explained below concerning a desired plane in themeasurement object S by designating a plurality of designated points onthe image of the measurement object S displayed on the display section340 shown in FIG. 1. In this case, the control section 310 and thecontrol board 210 operate in the same manner as in the case of thesetting mode to thereby generate a deviation image and calculateflatness and cause the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display acalculation result of the deviation image and the flatness. Note that,in the height gauge mode, registration processing for the designatedpoints and the plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xb, Yb, Zb)corresponding to the designated points is not performed.

In the storing section 320 shown in FIG. 1, coordinate conversioninformation and position conversion information are stored in advance.The coordinate conversion information indicates plane coordinates (Xc,Yc) corresponding to plane coordinates (Ua, Va) in positions in theheight direction (the Z-axis direction) in the measurement region V. Thecontrol board 210 can irradiate the measurement light on a desiredposition in the measurement region V by controlling positions of themovable sections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5 and angles of thereflecting sections 271 b and 272 b shown in FIG. 7. The positionconversion information indicates a relation between the coordinates inthe measurement region V and the positions of the movable sections 252 aand 252 b and the angles of the reflecting sections 271 b and 272 b.

A control system configured by the control section 310 and the controlboard 210 can specify a three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) and athree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of a position corresponding tothe measurement point by using the coordinate conversion information andthe position conversion information. Details of the coordinateconversion information and the position conversion information areexplained below.

(7) Control System of the Shape Measuring Device

(a) Overall Configuration of the Control System

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a control system of the shapemeasuring device 400 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 10, a controlsystem 410 includes a reference-image acquiring section 1, a positionacquiring section 2, a driving control section 3, a reference-planeacquiring section 4, an allowable-value acquiring section 5, aregistering section 6, a deflecting-direction acquiring section 7, adetecting section 8, and an image analyzing section 9. The controlsystem 410 further includes a reference-position acquiring section 10, alight-reception-signal acquiring section 11, a distance-informationcalculating section 12, a coordinate calculating section 13, adetermining section 14, a height calculating section 15, ameasurement-image acquiring section 16, a correcting section 17, aninspecting section 18, and a report preparing section 19. The controlsystem 410 further includes a plane acquiring section 32, a deviationcalculating section 33, a deviation-image generating section 34, and adisplay-form setting section 35.

The control board 210 and the control section 310 shown in FIG. 1execute the system program stored in the storing section 320, wherebyfunctions of the components of the control system 410 are realized. InFIG. 10, a flow of common processing in all the operation modes isindicated by a solid line, a flow of processing in the setting mode isindicated by an alternate long and short dash line, and a flow ofprocessing in the measurement mode is indicated by a dotted line. A flowof processing in the height gauge mode is substantially equal to theflow of the processing in the setting mode. In the followingexplanation, to facilitate understanding, the components of the controlsystem 410 in the setting mode and the measurement mode are separatelyexplained.

(b) The Setting Mode

The measurement administrator places a desired measurement object S onthe optical surface plate 111 shown in FIG. 2 and images the measurementobject S with the imaging section 220 shown in FIG. 3. Thereference-image acquiring section 1 acquires, as reference image data,image data generated by the imaging section 220 and causes the displaysection 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display, as a reference image, an imagebased on the acquired reference image data. The reference imagedisplayed on the display section 340 may be a still image or may be amoving image that is sequentially updated. The measurement manager candesignate, as the reference point, a portion that should be measured anddesignate a reference point on the reference image displayed on thedisplay section 340. The reference point is a point for deciding areference plane serving as a reference in calculating height of themeasurement object S.

The position acquiring section 2 receives designation of the measurementpoint on the reference image acquired by the reference-image acquiringsection 1 and acquires a position (the plane coordinate (Ua, Va)explained above) of the received measurement point. The positionacquiring section 2 receives designation of a reference point using thereference image and acquires a position of the received reference point.Note that the position acquiring section 2 is also capable of receivinga plurality of measurement points and capable of receiving a pluralityof reference points.

Further, the position acquiring section 2 receives designation of aplurality of designated points using the reference image and acquirespositions of the received plurality of designated points. At this time,the position acquiring section 2 superimposes and displays, on thereference image displayed on the display section 340, indicatorsindicating the acquired positions of the plurality of designated points.In this case, the measurement manager can grasp the positions of theplurality of designated points while visually recognizing the exteriorof the measurement object S displayed on the display section 340.

The driving control section 3 acquires a position of the measurementhead 200 from the reading section 133 of the lift 130 shown in FIG. 3and controls the driving circuit 132 shown in FIG. 3 on the basis of theacquired position of the measurement head 200. Consequently, themeasurement head 200 is moved to a desired position in the up-downdirection. The driving control section 3 acquires a position of themovable lens 263 from the reading section 266 of the focusing section260 shown in FIG. 6 and controls the driving circuit 265 shown in FIG. 6on the basis of the acquired position of the movable lens 263.Consequently, the movable lens 263 is moved such that the measurementlight is focused near the surface of the measurement object S.

The driving control section 3 controls the driving circuits 273 and 274shown in FIG. 7 and the driving circuits 256 a and 256 b shown in FIG. 5on the basis of the position conversion information stored in thestoring section 320 shown in FIG. 1 and the positions acquired by theposition acquiring section 2. Consequently, the angles of the reflectingsections 271 b and 272 b of the deflecting sections 271 and 272 shown inFIG. 7 are adjusted. The measurement light is irradiated on the portionsof the measurement object S corresponding to the measurement point, andthe reference point, and the designated point. According to a change inthe optical path length of the measurement light, the optical pathlength of the reference light is adjusted such that the differencebetween the optical path length of the measurement light and the opticalpath length of the reference light is equal to or smaller than the fixedvalue.

According to the operation of the driving control section 3 explainedabove, coordinates of the portions of the measurement object Scorresponding to the measurement point, the reference point, and thedesignated point are calculated by the coordinate calculating section 13as explained below. Details of the operation of the driving controlsection 3 are explained below. In the following explanation, processingfor calculating a coordinate of the portion of the measurement object Scorresponding to the measurement point is explained. However,coordinates of the portions of the measurement object S respectivelycorresponding to the reference point and the designated point arecalculated in the same manner as the coordinate of the portion of themeasurement object S corresponding to the measurement point.

The reference-plane acquiring section 4 acquires a reference plane onthe basis of one or a plurality of coordinates calculated by thecoordinate calculating section 13 according to one or a plurality ofreference points acquired by the position acquiring section 2.Concerning the measurement point acquired by the position acquiringsection 2, the measurement manager can input an allowable value forheight. The allowable value is used for inspection of the measurementobject S in the measurement mode explained below and includes a designvalue and a common tolerance from the design value. The allowable-valueacquiring section 5 receives the input allowable value.

The registering section 6 registers the reference image data acquired bythe reference-image acquiring section 1, the position acquired by theposition acquiring section 2, and the allowable value set by theallowable-value acquiring section in association with one another.Specifically, the registering section 6 causes the storing section 320to store registration information indicating a relation among thereference image data, the positions of the measurement point, thereference point, and the designated point, and allowable valuescorresponding to measurement values. A plurality of reference planes maybe set. In this case, the registering section 6 registers, for each ofthe reference planes, a reference point corresponding to the referenceplane, a measurement point corresponding to the reference plane, andallowable values corresponding to the measurement values in associationwith one another.

The deflecting-direction acquiring section 7 acquires the angles of thereflecting sections 271 b and 272 b respectively from the readingsections 275 and 276 shown in FIG. 7. The detecting section 8 detectsdeflecting directions of the deflecting sections 271 and 272respectively on the basis of the angles of the reflecting sections 271 band 272 b acquired by the deflecting-direction acquiring section 7. Theimaging of the imaging section 220 is continued, whereby the measurementlight on the measurement object S appears in the reference image. Theimage analyzing section 9 analyzes the reference image data acquired bythe reference-image acquiring section 1. The detecting section 8detects, on the basis of a result of the analysis by the image analyzingsection 9, a plane coordinate indicating an irradiation position on thereference image of the measurement light deflected by the deflectingsections 271 and 272.

The reference-position acquiring section 10 acquires positions of themovable sections 252 a and 252 b respectively from the reading sections257 a and 257 b of the reference section 250 shown in FIG. 5. Thelight-reception-signal acquiring section 11 acquires a light receptionsignal from the light receiving section 232 d shown in FIG. 4. Thedistance-information calculating section 12 performs, on the basis ofthe light reception signal acquired by the light receiving section 232d, a predetermined arithmetic operation and predetermined processing ondata indicating a relation between a wavelength and a received lightamount of interference light. The arithmetic operation and theprocessing include, for example, a frequency axis conversion from awavelength to a wave number and Fourier transform of the wave number.

The distance-information calculating section 12 calculates, on the basisof data obtained by the processing and the positions of the movablesections 252 a and 252 b acquired by the reference-position acquiringsection 10, distance information indicating the distance between anemitting position of the measurement light in the measurement head 200shown in FIG. 2 and an irradiation position of the measurement light inthe measurement object S. The emitting position of the measurement lightin the measurement head 200 is, for example, the position of the port245 d of the fiber coupler 245 shown in FIG. 3.

The coordinate calculating section 13 calculates a three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the irradiation position of the measurementlight on the measurement object S on the basis of the deflectingdirections of the deflecting sections 271 and 272 detected by thedetecting section 8 and the distance information calculated by thedistance-information calculating section 12. The three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the irradiation position of the measurementlight includes a coordinate Zc in the height direction and a planecoordinate (Xc, Yc) in a plane orthogonal to the height direction.

The coordinate calculating section 13 may calculate, using, for example,the triangulation system, a three-dimensional coordinate of theirradiation position of the measurement light on the measurement objectS on the basis of a plane coordinate indicating an irradiation positionon the reference image of the measurement light detected by thedetecting section 8 and the deflecting directions of the deflectingsections 271 and 272. Alternatively, the coordinate calculating section13 may calculate a three-dimensional coordinate of the irradiationposition of the measurement light on the measurement object S on thebasis of a plane coordinate indicating the irradiation position on thereference image of the measurement light detected by the detectingsection 8 and the distance information calculated by thedistance-information calculating section 12.

The determining section 14 determines whether the measurement light isirradiated on the portion of the measurement object S corresponding tothe measurement point or a portion near the portion. Specifically, thecoordinate calculating section 13 acquires, on the basis of thecalculated coordinate in the height direction and the coordinateconversion information stored in the storing section 320, a planecoordinate (a plane coordinate (Xa′, Ya′) explained below) correspondingto the measurement point registered by the registering section 6. Thedetermining section 14 determines whether the plane coordinate (Xc, Yc)calculated by the coordinate calculating section 13 is present within arange decided in advance from the plane coordinate (Xa′, Ya′)corresponding to the measurement point.

Alternatively, the image analyzing section 9 may perform an imageanalysis of the reference image data to thereby specify a planecoordinate (a plane coordinate (Uc, Vc) explained below) of theirradiation position of the measurement light in the reference image. Inthis case, the determining section 14 determines whether the planecoordinate (Uc, Vc) of the irradiation position of the measurement lightspecified by the image analyzing section 9 is present within a rangedecided in advance from the plane coordinate (Ua, Va) of the measurementpoint registered by the registering section 6.

When the determining section 14 determines that the measurement light isnot irradiated on the portion of the measurement object S correspondingto the measurement point and the portion near the portion, the drivingcontrol section 3 controls the driving circuits 273 and 274 shown inFIG. 7 and the driving circuits 256 a and 256 b shown in FIG. 5 to movethe irradiation position of the measurement light. When the determiningsection 14 determines that the measurement light is irradiated on theportion of the measurement object S corresponding to the measurementpoint and the portion near the portion, the driving control section 3controls the driving circuits 273 and 274 and the driving circuits 256 aand 256 b to fix the irradiation position of the measurement light.

The coordinate calculating section 13 gives the coordinate calculatedconcerning the reference point to the reference-plane acquiring section4. The height calculating section 15 calculates, on the basis of thethree-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) calculated by the coordinatecalculating section 13 according to the measurement point, height of theportion of the measurement object S based on the reference planeacquired by the reference-plane acquiring section 4. For example, whenthe reference plane is a plane, the height calculating section 15calculates, as height, length from the reference plane tothree-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) in the perpendicular of thereference plane passing the three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc).The height calculating section 15 causes the display section 340 todisplay the calculated height. The registering section 6 registers, asregistration information, the three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc)calculated by the coordinate calculating section 13 and the heightcalculated by the height calculating section 15 in association with thereference image data, the position of the measurement point, theposition of the reference point, and the allowable value.

Further, the coordinate calculating section 13 gives the plurality ofthree-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) calculated concerning theplurality of designated points to the plane acquiring section 32 and thedeviation calculating section 33. The plane acquiring section 32 givesthe given plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) to theregistering section 6. In this case, the registering section 6 registersthe plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) given fromthe plane acquiring section 32 as registration information inassociation with the reference image data, the position of themeasurement point, the position of the reference point, the positions ofthe plurality of designated points, and the allowable value.

The plane acquiring section 32 acquires an approximate plane specifiedby the given plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc).For example, the plane acquiring section 32 calculates an approximateplane specified by performing a regression analysis such as a method ofleast squares concerning a plurality of three-dimensional coordinates(Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to three or more designated points.Thereafter, the plane acquiring section 32 gives the acquiredapproximate plane to the deviation calculating section 33.

Each of a plurality of portions of the measurement object S respectivelylocated in the plurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc)corresponding to the plurality of designated points is referred to asdesignated corresponding portion. In this case, the deviationcalculating section 33 respectively calculates deviations of a pluralityof designated corresponding portions with respect to the approximateplane acquired by the plane acquiring section 32. The deviationcalculating section 33 calculates a deviation of a region other than theplurality of designated corresponding portions of the measurement objectS by interpolating the calculated deviations of the plurality ofdesignated corresponding portions using a method such as linearinterpolation or parabolic interpolation. Note that the deviationcalculating section 33 may calculate only the deviations of theplurality of designated corresponding portions.

Further, the deviation calculating section 33 calculates flatness of theplurality of designated corresponding portions with respect to theapproximate plane on the basis of the approximate plane and thedeviations of the plurality of designated corresponding portions.

The deviation-image generating section 34 generates a deviation image inwhich the plurality of designated corresponding portions are displayedin display forms corresponding to the deviations. When the deviation ofthe region other than the plurality of designated corresponding portionsis calculated by the interpolation, the deviation-image generatingsection 34 generates a deviation image such that the region other thanthe plurality of designated corresponding portions is displayed in adisplay form corresponding to the deviation calculated by theinterpolation. The deviation-image generating section 34 superimposesand displays the generated deviation image in a semitransparent manneron the reference image displayed on the display section 340 shown inFIG. 1. At this time, the deviation calculating section 33 superimposesand displays the calculated flatness on the reference image.

The display-form setting section 35 sets a correspondence relationbetween deviations and colors or densities. In this case, thedeviation-image generating section 34 generates a deviation image on thebasis of the set correspondence relation, whereby, in the deviationimage, the plurality of designated corresponding portions and the regionother than the plurality of designated corresponding portions aredisplayed in colors or densities corresponding to the deviations.

(c) The Measurement Mode

The measurement operator places the measurement object S of the sametype as the measurement object S, the registration information of whichis registered in the setting mode, on the optical surface plate 111shown in FIG. 2 and images the measurement object S with the imagingsection 220 shown in FIG. 3. The measurement-image acquiring section 16acquires, as measurement image data, image data generated by the imagingsection 220 and causes the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 todisplay, as a measurement image, an image based on the acquiredmeasurement image data.

The correcting section 17 corrects deviation of the measurement imagedata with respect to the reference image data on the basis of theregistration information registered by the registering section 6.Consequently, the correcting section 17 sets, in the measurement imagedata, a measurement point, a reference point, and a designated pointcorresponding to the registration information registered by theregistering section 6.

The driving control section 3 controls the driving circuits 273 and 274shown in FIG. 7 and the driving circuits 256 a and 256 b shown in FIG. 5on the basis of the registration information registered by theregistering section 6 in the setting mode. Consequently,three-dimensional coordinates of portions of the measurement object Scorresponding to the measurement point, the reference point, and thedesignated point set by the correcting section 17 are calculated by thecoordinate calculating section 13. The driving control section 3performs the control on the basis of the three-dimensional coordinatesand the heights registered in the setting mode. Therefore, thecoordinate calculating section 13 can efficiently calculate thethree-dimensional coordinates of the portions of the measurement objectS corresponding to the measurement point, the reference point, and thedesignated point set by the correcting section 17.

The kinds of processing by the deflecting-direction acquiring section 7and the detecting section 8 in the measurement mode are respectively thesame as the kinds of processing by the deflecting-direction acquiringsection 7 and the detecting section 8 in the setting mode. Theprocessing by the image analyzing section 9 in the measurement mode isthe same as the processing by the image analyzing section 9 in thesetting mode except that the measurement image data acquired by themeasurement-image acquiring section 16 is used instead of the referenceimage data acquired by the reference-image acquiring section 1. Thekinds of processing by the reference-position acquiring section 10, thelight-reception-signal acquiring section 11, and thedistance-information calculating section 12 in the measurement mode arerespectively the same as the kinds of processing by thereference-position acquiring section 10, the light-reception-signalacquiring section 11, and the distance-information calculating section12 in the setting mode.

The coordinate calculating section 13 calculates a three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of the irradiation position of the measurementlight on the measurement object S on the basis of the deflectingdirections of the deflecting sections 271 and 272 detected by thedetecting section 8 and the distance information calculated by thedistance-information calculating section 12. The coordinate calculatingsection 13 may calculate the three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb)of the irradiation position of the measurement light on the measurementobject S on the basis of the plane coordinate indicating the irradiationposition on the measurement image of the measurement light detected bythe detecting section 8 and the distance information calculated by thedistance-information calculating section 12. The three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of the irradiation position of the measurementlight includes a coordinate Zb in the height direction and a planecoordinate (Xb, Yb) in the plane orthogonal to the height direction.

The processing by the determining section 14 in the measurement mode isthe same as the processing by the determining section 14 in the settingmode except that the measurement point set by the correcting section 17is used instead of the measurement point registered by the registeringsection 6 and that the three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) is usedinstead of the three-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc). Consequently,the coordinate calculating section 13 calculates a coordinatecorresponding to the reference point set by the correcting section 17.The coordinate calculating section 13 calculates a coordinatecorresponding to the designated point set by the correcting section 17.

The reference-plane acquiring section 4 acquires a reference plane onthe basis of a coordinate corresponding to the reference pointcalculated by the coordinate calculating section 13. Theheight-calculating section 15 calculates, on the basis of thethree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) calculated by the coordinatecalculating section 13, height of a portion of the measurement object Sbased on the reference plane acquired by the reference-plane acquiringsection 4.

The inspecting section 18 inspects the measurement object S on the basisof the height of the portion of the measurement object S calculated bythe height calculating section 15 and the allowable value registered inthe registering section 6. Specifically, when the calculated height iswithin a range of the tolerance based on the design value, theinspecting section 18 determines that the measurement object S is anon-defective product. On the other hand, when the calculated height isoutside the range of the tolerance based on the design value, theinspecting section 18 determines that the measurement object S is adefective product.

The kinds of processing by the plane acquiring section 32, the deviationcalculating section 33, and the deviation-image generating section 34 inthe measurement mode are respectively the same as the kinds ofprocessing by the plane acquiring section 32, the deviation calculatingsection 33, and the deviation-image generating section 34 in the settingmode except that the designated point is acquired on the measurementimage on the basis of the registration information, that thethree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) is used instead of thethree-dimensional coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc), and that the deviation imageand the flatness are superimposed and displayed on the measurement imageinstead of the reference image.

The report preparing section 19 prepares a report on the basis of aresult of the inspection by the inspecting section 18 and the referenceimage acquired by the measurement-image acquiring section 16.Consequently, the measurement operator can easily report the measurementvalue of the height or the inspection result concerning the measurementobject S to the measurement manager or other users using the report. Thereport is prepared according to a description format determined inadvance. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the report preparedby the report preparing section 19.

In the description format shown in FIG. 11, a report 420 includes a namedisplay field 421, an image display field 422, a state display field423, a result display field 424, and a guarantee display field 425. Inthe name display field 421, a name (in the example shown in FIG. 11,“inspection result sheet”) of the report 420 is displayed. In the imagedisplay field 422, a measurement image of an inspection target isdisplayed. In the state display field 423, a name of the inspectiontarget, an identification number of the inspection target, a name of ameasurement operator, an inspection date and time, and the like aredisplayed.

In the result display field 424, an inspection result concerning theinspection target is displayed. Specifically, in the result displayfield 424, names, measurement values, and determination results ofvarious inspection items set for the inspection target are displayed ina form of a list table in a state in which the measurement values andthe determination results are associated with design values andtolerances. The guarantee display field 425 is a blank for a signatureor a seal. The measurement operator and the measurement manager canguarantee an inspection result by signing or sealing the guaranteedisplay field 425.

The report preparing section 19 may prepare the report 420 onlyconcerning the measurement object S determined as a non-defectiveproduct by the inspecting section 18. The report 420 is attached to astatement of delivery in order to guarantee the quality of an inspectiontarget product when the inspection target product is delivered to acustomer. The report preparing section 19 may prepare the report 420only concerning the measurement object S determined as a defectiveproduct by the inspecting section 18. The report 420 is used in the owncompany in order to analyze a cause of the determination that theinspection target product is the defective product.

In this embodiment, a measurement value of height of a portion of themeasurement object S and a determination result of an inspection itemset concerning the portion are displayed in the result display field 424of the report 420 in a state in which the measurement value and thedetermination result are associated. However, the present invention isnot limited to this. Either one of the measurement value of the heightand the determination result of the inspection item may be displayed inthe result display field 424 of the report 420 and the other may be notdisplayed.

(d) The Height Gauge Mode

The user places a desired measurement object S on the optical surfaceplate 111 shown in FIG. 2 and images the measurement object S with theimaging section 220 shown in FIG. 3. The reference-image acquiringsection 1 acquires image data generated by the imaging section 220 andcauses the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display an image basedon the acquired image data. The user designates, as a measurement point,a portion that should be measured on the image displayed on the displaysection 340.

The position acquiring section 2 receives designation of a measurementpoint on an image acquired by the reference-image acquiring section 1and acquires a position (the plane coordinate (Ua, Va) explained above)of the received measurement point. The position acquiring section 2receives designation of a reference point using a reference image andacquires a position of the received reference point. The positionacquiring section 2 is also capable of receiving a plurality ofmeasurement points and capable of receiving a plurality of referencepoints.

Further, the position acquiring section 2 receives designation of aplurality of designated points using the image acquired by thereference-image acquiring section 1 and acquires positions of thereceived plurality of designated points. At this time, the positionacquiring section 2 superimposes and displays, on the image displayed onthe display section 340, indicators indicating the acquired positions ofthe plurality of designated points.

The driving control section 3 controls the driving circuits 273 and 274shown in FIG. 7 and the driving circuits 256 a and 256 b shown in FIG. 5on the basis of the position conversion information stored in thestoring section 320 shown in FIG. 1 and the position acquired by theposition acquiring section 2. Consequently, measurement light isirradiated on portions of the measurement object S corresponding to themeasurement point and the reference point and an optical path length ofreference light is adjusted.

According to the operation of the driving control section 3 explainedabove, coordinates of the portions of the measurement object Scorresponding to the measurement point, the reference point, and thedesignated point are calculated by the coordinate calculating section13. The reference-plane acquiring section 4 acquires a reference planeon the basis of the coordinate calculated by the coordinate-calculatingsection 13 according to the reference point acquired by the positionacquiring section 2.

The kinds of processing by the deflecting-direction acquiring section 7,the detecting section 8, the image analyzing section 9, thereference-position acquiring section 10, the light-reception-signalacquiring section 11, and the distance-information calculating section12 in the height gauge mode are respectively the same as the kinds ofprocessing by the deflecting-direction acquiring section 7, thedetecting section 8, the image analyzing section 9, thereference-position acquiring section 10, the light-reception-signalacquiring section 11, and the distance-information calculating section12 in the setting mode.

The coordinate calculating section 13 calculates a three-dimensionalcoordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of the irradiation position of the measurementlight on the measurement object S on the basis of the deflectingdirections of the deflecting sections 271 and 272 or the irradiationposition of the measurement light detected by the detecting section 8and the distance information calculated by the distance-informationcalculating section 12. The coordinate calculating section 13 maycalculate the three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of theirradiation position of the measurement light on the measurement objectS on the basis of the plane coordinate indicating the irradiationposition on the measurement image of the measurement light detected bythe detecting section 8 and the distance information calculated by thedistance-information calculating section 12. The kinds or processing bythe determining section 14 and the height calculating section 15 in theheight gauge mode are respectively the same as the kinds of processingby the determining section 14 and the height calculating section 15 inthe setting mode.

The processing by the plane acquiring section 32 in the height gaugemode is the same as the processing by the plane acquiring section 32 inthe setting mode except that the plurality of designated points and theplurality of three-dimensional coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) given from thecoordinate calculating section 13 are not given to the registeringsection 6. Further, the respective kinds of processing by the deviationcalculating section 33 and the deviation-image generating section 34 inthe height gauge mode are respectively the same as the kinds ofprocessing by the deviation calculating section 33 and thedeviation-image generating section 34 in the setting mode.

(8) Overall Operation Flow of the Control System

FIGS. 12 to 17 are flowcharts for explaining an example of shapemeasurement processing executed in the shape measuring device 400 shownin FIG. 1. A series of processing explained below is executed at a fixedcycle by the control section 310 and the control board 210 when a powersupply of the shape measuring device 400 is in an ON state. Note thatthe shape measurement processing includes designation and measurementprocessing and actual measurement processing explained below. In thefollowing explanation, one of the designation and measurement processingand the actual measurement processing in the shape measurementprocessing is executed by the control board 210. The other of thedesignation and measurement processing and the actual measurementprocessing in the shape measurement processing is executed by thecontrol section 310. However, the present invention is not limited tothis. For example, all the kinds of processing in the shape measurementprocessing may be executed by the control board 210 or the controlsection 310.

In an initial state, it is assumed that the power supply of the shapemeasuring device 400 is on in a state in which the measurement object Sis placed on the optical surface plate 111 shown in FIG. 2. At thistime, the selection screen 341 shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on thedisplay section 340 shown in FIG. 1.

When the shape measurement processing is started, the control section310 determines whether the setting mode is selected by operation of theoperation section 330 by the user (step S101). More specifically, thecontrol section 310 determines whether the setting button 341 a shown inFIG. 8 is operated by the user.

When the setting mode is not selected, the control section 310 proceedsto processing in step S201 of FIG. 16 explained below. On the otherhand, when the setting mode is selected, the control section 310 causesthe display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display a setting screen 350shown in FIG. 25 explained below (step S102). On the setting screen 350,a reference image of the measurement region V shown in FIG. 2 acquiredat a fixed cycle by the imaging section 220 is displayed on a real-timebasis.

In the shape measuring device 400 according to this embodiment, in orderto realize a correcting function of the correcting section 17 shown inFIG. 10, it is necessary to set a pattern image and a search region inthe setting mode. The pattern image means an image of a portionincluding at least the measurement object S in an entire region of areference image displayed at a point in time designated by the user. Thesearch region means a range (a range in an imaging visual field of theimaging section 220) in which, after the pattern image is set in thesetting mode, a portion similar to the pattern image is searched in ameasurement image in the measurement mode.

Thus, the control section 310 determines whether a search region isdesignated by the operation of the operation section 330 by the user(step S103). When a search region is not designated, the control section310 proceeds to processing in step S105 explained below. On the otherhand, when a search region is designated, the control section 310 setsthe designated search region by storing information concerning thedesignated search region in the storing section 320 (step S104).

Subsequently, the control section 310 determines whether a pattern imageis designated by the operation of the operation section 330 by the user(step S105). When a pattern image is not designated, the control section310 proceeds to processing in step S107 explained below. On the otherhand, when a pattern image is designated, the control section 310 setsthe designated pattern image by storing information concerning thedesignated pattern image in the storing section 320 (step S106). Notethat the information concerning the pattern image includes informationindicating a position of the pattern image in the reference image.Specific setting examples of the pattern image and the search region bythe user are explained below.

Subsequently, the control section 310 determines whether the searchregion and the pattern image are set by the processing in steps S104 andS106 (step S107). When at least one of the search region and the patternimage is not set, the control section 310 returns to the processing instep S103. On the other hand, when the search region and the patternimage are set, the control section 310 determines whether setting of areference plane is received (step S108).

When the setting of the reference plane is received in step S108, thecontrol section 310 determines whether designation of a point serving asa reference point is received on the reference image displayed on thedisplay section 340 by the operation of the operation section 330 by theuser (step S109). When the designation of the point is not received, thecontrol section 310 proceeds to processing in the following step S111.On the other hand, when the designation of the point is received, thecontrol section 310 instructs the control board 210 to perform thedesignation and measurement processing and gives a plane coordinate (Ua,Va) specified by the designated point on the image to the control board210 (see FIG. 9A). Consequently, the control board 210 performs thedesignation and measurement processing (step S110) and gives acoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) specified by the designation and measurementprocessing to the control section 310. Details of the designation andmeasurement processing are explained below.

Thereafter, the control section 310 determines whether the designationof the point serving as the reference point is completed by theoperation of the operation section 330 by the user (step S111). When thedesignation of the point is not completed, the control section 310returns to the processing in step S109. On the other hand, when thedesignation of the point is completed, the control section 310 sets thereference plane on the basis of one or a plurality of coordinates (Xc,Yc, Zc) acquired in the designation and measurement processing in stepS110 (step S112). In this example, on the basis of coordinates (Xc, Yc,Zc) corresponding to one or a plurality of reference points, informationindicating coordinates of the reference plane, for example, planecoordinates (Xc, Yc) corresponding to the reference points orcoordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to the reference points arestored in the storing section 320.

The information indicating the coordinates of the reference plane mayinclude a reference plane constraint condition for determining thereference plane. The reference plane constraint condition includes acondition that, for example, the reference plane is parallel to aplacement surface or the reference plane is parallel to another surfacestored in advance. In the case of the reference plane constraintcondition, when a coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) corresponding to one referencepoint is designated, a plane represented by Z=Zb is acquired as thereference plane.

After the processing in step S112 or when the setting of the referenceplane is not received in step S108, the control section 310 determineswhether setting to be received is setting concerning measurement of themeasurement object S (step S120). In the setting concerning themeasurement in this example, setting for height measurement and settingfor acquiring a deviation image and flatness are included.

When the measurement to be received is not the setting concerningmeasurement, the control section 310 acquires information concerning thesetting by the operation of the operation section 330 by the user andstores the information in the storing section 320 (step S130). Examplesof the information acquired in step S130 include information such as theallowable value and an indicator and a comment that should be displayedon a measurement image during the measurement mode. Thereafter, thecontrol section 310 proceeds to processing in step S126 explained below.

When the setting received in step S120 is the setting concerning themeasurement, the control section 310 determines whether the setting tobe received is setting for acquiring a deviation image and flatness(step S121).

When the setting to be received is the setting for height measurement,the control section 310 determines whether a point is designated as ameasurement point on the reference image displayed on the displaysection 340 by the operation of the operation section 330 by the user(step S122). When a point is not designated, the control section 310proceeds to processing in the following step S124. On the other hand,when a point is designated, as in step S110 explained above, the controlsection 310 instructs the control board 210 to perform the designationand measurement processing and gives the plane coordinate (Ua, Va)specified by the point designated on the image to the control board 210.Consequently, the control board 210 performs the designation andmeasurement processing (step S123) and gives the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc)specified by the designation and measurement processing to the controlsection 310.

Thereafter, the control section 310 determines whether the designationof the point serving as the measurement point is completed by theoperation of the operation section 330 by the user (step S124). When thedesignation of the point is not completed, the control section 310returns to the processing in step S122.

On the other hand, when the designation of the point is completed, thecontrol section 310 performs setting of the measurement point bystoring, in the storing section 320, coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of one ora plurality of measurement points acquired in the designation andmeasurement processing in step S123 (step S125).

When the setting to be received is the setting for acquiring a deviationimage and flatness in step S121, the control section 310 determineswhether a point is designated as a designated point on the referenceimage displayed on the display section 340 by the operation of theoperation section 330 by the user (step S131). When a point is notdesignated, the control section 310 proceeds to processing in thefollowing step S133. On the other hand, when a point is designated, asin step S110 explained above, the control section 310 instructs thecontrol board 210 to perform the designation and measurement processingand gives the plane coordinate (Ua, Va) specified by the pointdesignated on the image to the control board 210. Consequently, thecontrol board 210 performs the designation and measurement processing(step S132) and gives the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) specified by thedesignation and measurement processing to the control section 310.

Subsequently, the control section 310 determines whether three or moredesignated points are designated by the operation of the operationsection 330 by the user (step S133). When three or more designatedpoints are not designated, the control section 310 returns to theprocessing in step S131. On the other hand, when three or moredesignated points are designated, the control section 310 calculates anapproximate plane specified by a plurality of coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc)respectively corresponding to the plurality of designated points (stepS134).

Subsequently, the control section 310 determines whether four or moredesignated points are designated by the operation of the operationsection 330 by the user (step S135). When four or more designated pointsare not designated, the control section 310 returns to the processing instep S131. On the other hand, when four or more designated points aredesignated, the control section 310 sets a deviation image regionincluding all of the plurality of designated points on the referenceimage (step S136).

The deviation image region is a region where a deviation image should besuperimposed and displayed on the reference image. The deviation imageregion is decided on the basis of coordinates on the reference image ofthe plurality of designated points. For example, the control section 310sets a boundary line extending up and down through a designated pointlocated leftmost on the reference image among the plurality ofdesignated points and sets a boundary line extending up and down througha designated point located rightmost on the reference image among theplurality of designated points. Further, the control section 310 sets aboundary line extending to the left and right through a designated pointlocated uppermost on the reference image among the plurality ofdesignated points and sets a boundary line extending to the left andright through a designated point located lowermost on the referenceimage among the plurality of designated points. Then, the controlsection 310 sets a region surrounded by the four boundary lines as thedeviation image region.

Note that the deviation image region may be decided on the basis of thethree or more designated points. In this case, the processing in stepS135 is unnecessary. The deviation image region may be set on the basisof the operation of the operation section 330 by the user (e.g., dragoperation of a mouse on the reference image). Alternatively, theprocessing in steps S134 and S135 explained above does not have to beperformed. In this case, the deviation image is superimposed anddisplayed over the entire reference image in the processing in thefollowing step S138.

After the processing in step S136, the control section 310 respectivelycalculates, on the basis of the calculated approximate plane and theplurality of coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to the plurality ofdesignated points, deviations and flatnesses of a plurality ofdesignated corresponding portions of the measurement object S withrespect to the approximate plane (step S137).

The control section 310 calculates a deviation of a region other thanthe plurality of designated corresponding portions of the measurementobject S by interpolating the calculated deviations of the plurality ofdesignated corresponding portions (step S138). Note that the processingin step S138 does not have to be performed.

Subsequently, the control section 310 generates a deviation image inwhich the plurality of designated corresponding portions are displayedin display forms corresponding to the calculated deviations and theregion other than the plurality of designated corresponding portions isdisplayed in a display form corresponding to the deviation calculated bythe interpolation. The control section 310 superimposes and displays thedeviation image in semitransparent manner on the reference imagedisplayed on the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 (step S139). Thecontrol section 310 superimposes and displays the flatnesses on thereference image (step S140).

Thereafter, the control section 310 determines whether designation of apoint as a designated point is completed (step S141). When thedesignation of a point is not completed, the control section 310 returnsto the processing in step S131. Consequently, when the designation of apoint is added, every time the processing in steps S131 to S140 isrepeated, the control section 310 updates a calculation result of adeviation image and flatness displayed on the display section 340.

On the other hand, when the designation of a point is completed, thecontrol section 310 performs setting of a plurality of designated pointsby storing, in the storing section 320, the plurality of coordinates(Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to the plurality of designated pointsobtained in the designation and measurement processing in step S131(step S142). Thereafter, the control section 310 proceeds to processingin step S126 explained below.

After the processing in any one of steps S125, S130, and S142 explainedabove, the control section 310 determines whether completion of thesetting is instructed or new setting is instructed (step S126). When thenew setting is instructed, that is, when the completion of the settingis not instructed, the control section 310 returns to the processing instep S108.

On the other hand, when the completion of the setting is instructed, thecontrol section 310 registers, as registration information, the kinds ofinformation set in any one of steps S103 to S112, S122 to S125, and S130to S142 explained above in association with one another (step S127).Thereafter, the shape measurement processing ends in the setting mode. Afile of the registration information to be registered is saved in thestoring section 320 after a specific file name is given to the file bythe user. At this time, in any one of steps S103 to S112, S122 to S125,and S130 to S142, information temporarily stored in the storing section320 for the setting may be erased.

In step S127, when the reference plane is set by the processing in stepS112 explained above, the control section 310 calculates height of themeasurement point on the basis of the reference plane and the specifiedcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) and includes a result of the calculation in theregistration information. Note that, when the reference plane is alreadyset at a point in time of step S125 explained above, in step S125,height of the measurement point may be calculated on the basis of theset reference plane and the specified coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc). In thiscase, a result of the calculation may be displayed on the setting screen350 (FIG. 30) as the height of the measurement point.

When the setting mode is not selected in step S101 explained above, thecontrol section 310 determines whether the measurement mode is selectedby the operation of the operation section 330 by the user (step S201).More specifically, the control section 310 determines whether themeasurement button 341 b shown in FIG. 8 is operated by the user. Whenthe measurement mode is selected, the control section 310 causes thedisplay section 340 shown in FIG. 1 to display a measurement screen 360shown in FIG. 32 explained below (step S202). On the measurement screen360, a measurement image in the measurement region V shown in FIG. 2acquired at a fixed cycle by the imaging section 220 is displayed on areal-time basis.

Subsequently, the control section 310 determines whether a file of theregistration information is designated by the operation of the operationsection 330 by the user (step S203). Specifically, the control section310 determines whether a filename of the registration information isdesignated by the user. When a file is not designated, the controlsection 310 stays on standby until designation of a file is received. Onthe other hand, when receiving designation of a file, the controlsection 310 reads the designated file of the registration informationfrom the storing section 320 (step S204). Note that, when the designatedfile of the registration information is not stored in the storingsection 320, the control section 310 may display, on the display section340, information indicating that the designated file is absent.

Subsequently, the control section 310 acquires registered informationconcerning a pattern image from the read registration information andsuperimposes and displays the acquired pattern image on the measurementimage displayed on the display section 340 (step S205). At this point,the control section 310 acquires a search region in addition to thepattern image. Note that, as explained above, the information concerningthe pattern image also includes information indicating a position of thepattern image in the reference image. Therefore, the pattern image issuperimposed and displayed on the measurement image in the same positionas the position set in the setting mode.

The pattern image may be displayed semitransparent. In this case, theuser can easily compare a currently captured measurement image of themeasurement object S and the reference image of the measurement object Sacquired during the setting mode. Then, the user can perform work forpositioning the measurement object S on the optical surface plate 111.

Subsequently, the control section 310 performs comparison of the patternimage and the measurement image (step S206). Specifically, the controlsection 310 extracts, as a reference edge, an edge of the measurementobject S in the pattern image and searches whether an edge having ashape corresponding to the reference edge is present in the acquiredsearch region.

In this case, an edge portion of the measurement object S in themeasurement image is considered to be most similar to the referenceedge. When a portion of the measurement image most similar to thereference edge is detected, the control section 310 calculates how muchthe detected portion deviates from the reference edge on the image andcalculates how much the detected portion rotates from the reference edgeon the image (step S207).

Subsequently, the control section 310 acquires information concerning aregistered measurement point from the read registration information andcorrects the acquired information concerning the measurement point onthe basis of a calculated deviation amount and a calculated rotationamount (step S208). The processing insteps S206 to S208 is equivalent tothe function of the correcting section 17 shown in FIG. 10. With thisconfiguration, even when a measurement object in a corrected image isdisplaced or rotated with respect to the measurement object in thepattern image, it is possible to highly accurately and easily specifyand correct a measurement point.

Subsequently, the control section 310 instructs the control board 210 toperform actual measurement processing for each of corrected measurementpoints and gives coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the corrected measurementpoints to the control board 210 (see FIG. 9B). Consequently, the controlboard 210 performs the actual measurement processing (step S209) andgives a coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) specified by the actual measurementprocessing to the control section 310. Details of the actual measurementprocessing are explained below.

Subsequently, the control section 310 acquires the registeredinformation concerning the reference plane, calculates height of themeasurement point on the basis of the reference plane and the acquiredcoordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb), and stores a result of the calculation in thestoring section 320 as a measurement result. The control section 310performs various kinds of processing corresponding to the registeredother information (step S210). For example, when an allowable value isincluded in the read registration information, inspection processing fordetermining whether the calculation result of the height is within arange of a common tolerance set as an allowable value may be performedas the various kinds of processing corresponding to the registered otherinformation.

Subsequently, the control section 310 determines whether settinginformation for acquiring a deviation image and flatness is present inthe read registration information (step S220).

When the setting information for acquiring a deviation image andflatness is absent in the registration information, the shapemeasurement processing ends in the measurement mode. On the other hand,when the setting information for acquiring a deviation image andflatness is present in the registration information, as in theprocessing in step S208, the control section 310 acquires the registeredinformation concerning the plurality of designated points from the readregistration information and corrects the acquired informationconcerning the plurality of designated points on the basis of thedeviation amount and the rotation amount calculated in the processing instep S206 (step S221). Consequently, a designated point based on theregistration information is acquired on the measurement image.

Subsequently, the control section 310 instructs the control board 210 toperform actual measurement processing explained below for each of thecorrected designated points and gives coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of thecorrected designated points to the control board 210 (see FIG. 9B).Consequently, the control board 210 performs the actual measurementprocessing (step S222) and gives a plurality of coordinates (Xb, Yb, Zb)specified by the actual measurement processing to the control section310.

Subsequently, as in the processing in step S134, the control section 310calculates an approximate plane specified by the plurality ofcoordinates (Xb, Yb, Zb) respectively corresponding to the plurality ofdesignated points (step S223). As in the processing in step S137, thecontrol section 310 respectively calculates, on the basis of thecalculated approximate plane and the plurality of coordinates (Xb, Yb,Zb) corresponding to the plurality of designated points, deviations andflatnesses of the plurality of designated corresponding portions withrespect to the approximate plane (step S224).

As in the processing in step S138, the control section 310 calculates adeviation of a region other than the plurality of designatedcorresponding portions of the measurement object S by interpolating thecalculated deviations of the plurality of designated correspondingportions (step S225). Note that the processing in step S225 does nothave to be performed.

Subsequently, as in the processing in step S139, the control section 310generates a deviation image and superimposes and displays the deviationimage in a semitransparent manner on the measurement image displayed onthe display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 (step S226). The control section310 superimposes and displays the flatnesses on the measurement image(step S227). Thereafter, the shape measurement processing ends in themeasurement mode.

When the measurement mode is not selected in step S201 explained above,the control section 310 determines whether the height gauge mode isselected by the operation of the operation section 330 by the user (stepS211). More specifically, the control section 310 determines whether theheight gauge button 341 c shown in FIG. 8 is operated by the user. Whenthe height gauge mode is not selected, the control section 310 returnsto the processing in step S101.

On the other hand, when the height gauge mode is selected, the controlsection 310 causes the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 to displaythe setting screen 350 shown in FIG. 26 explained below (step S212).Thereafter, the control section 310 performs setting of a referenceplane on the basis of the operation of the operation section 330 by theuser (step S213). This setting processing is the same as the processingin steps S109 to S112 explained above.

Thereafter, when receiving designation of a point, the control section310 instructs the control board 210 to perform the designation andmeasurement processing and gives a plane coordinate (Ua, Va) specifiedby a designated point on the image to the control board 210 (see FIG.9C). Consequently, the control board 210 performs the designation andmeasurement processing (step S214). The control board 210 adjusts thepositions of the movable sections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5 andthe angles of the reflecting sections 271 b and 272 b shown in FIG. 7 onthe basis of the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) specified by the designationand measurement processing and the position conversion information andirradiates measurement light (step S215).

Subsequently, the control board 210 calculates, on the basis of thelight reception signal output from the light receiving section 232 dshown in FIG. 4, the positions of the movable sections 252 a and 252 bshown in FIG. 5, and the deflecting directions of the deflectingsections 271 and 272 shown in FIG. 7, a three-dimensional coordinate(Xb, Yb, Zb) of a portion on which the measurement light is irradiatedon the measurement object S and gives the three-dimensional coordinate(Xb, Yb, Zb) to the control section 310 (step S216).

Note that, in step S216 explained above, the control board 210 maycalculate, on the basis of the light reception signal output from thelight receiving section 232 d shown in FIG. 4, the positions of themovable sections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5, and the planecoordinate indicating the irradiation position of the measurement lighton the image acquired by the imaging section 220 shown in FIG. 1, thethree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of the portion on which themeasurement light is irradiated on the measurement object S.

Subsequently, the control section 310 acquires information concerningthe set reference plane, calculates, on the basis of the reference planeand the acquired coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb), height of the portion on whichthe measurement light is irradiated on the measurement object S, anddisplays a result of the calculation on the display section 340 as ameasurement result. For example, when the reference plane is a plane,the control section 310 calculates, as height, the length of aperpendicular of the reference plane, which passes the acquiredcoordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb), from the reference plane to the coordinate (Xb,Yb, Zb) at the time when the perpendicular is drawn and displays aresult of the calculation on the display section 340 as a measurementresult. The control section 310 displays, on the display section 340, agreen “+” mark, which indicates that the height of the portion of themeasurement object S corresponding to the measurement point can becalculated, in a plane coordinate indicating the irradiation position ofthe measurement light on the image acquired by the imaging section 220or a plane coordinate specified by the designated point on the image(step S217).

Subsequently, the control section 310 determines whether an additionalpoint is designated by the operation of the operation section 330 by theuser (step S218). When an additional point is designated, the controlsection 310 returns to the processing in step S214. Consequently, theprocessing in steps S214 to S218 is repeated until no additional pointis designated. When an additional point is not designated, the shapemeasurement processing ends in the height gauge mode.

With the height gauge mode explained above, the user can designate areference point and a reference plane by designating a point on animage. The user can acquire a measurement result of height bydesignating a measurement point on a screen. Further, the user cancontinue the measurement while continuously maintaining the referenceplane by designating a plurality of measurement points.

Note that, in the example of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 12 to 17,processing for acquiring a deviation image and flatness in the heightgauge mode is omitted. However, the processing for acquiring a deviationimage and flatness in the height gauge mode may be performed. Forexample, the control section 310 may perform a series of processingcorresponding to steps S131 to S141 for acquiring a deviation image andflatness during the processing in any one of steps S212 to S218.

In the example of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 12 to 17, the pluralityof designated points and the plurality of measurement points designatedto acquire a deviation image and flatness are used as points differentfrom each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this.For example, after the plurality of measurement points are designated onthe basis of the operation of the operation section 330 shown in FIG. 1by the user, the control section 310 may receive an instruction to use apart or all of the designated plurality of measurement points asdesignated points. In this case, it is possible to acquire a deviationimage and flatness using the designated plurality of measurement pointsas the plurality of designated points.

In the example of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 12 to 17, the searchregion and the pattern image are set before the reference point and themeasurement point are designated in the setting mode. However, timingwhen the search region and the pattern image should be set is notlimited to the example explained above. In the setting mode, the searchregion and the pattern image may be set at any timing before theregistration processing in step S127 is performed.

(9) Example of the Designation and Measurement Processing

FIGS. 18 and 19 are flowcharts for explaining an example of thedesignation and measurement processing by the control board 210. FIGS.20A to 21B are explanatory diagrams for explaining the designation andmeasurement processing shown in FIGS. 18 and 19. In each of FIGS. 20A to20C and FIGS. 21A and 21B, on the left side, a positional relationbetween the measurement object S placed on the optical surface plate 111and the imaging section 220 and the scanning section 270 is shown as aside view and, on the right side, an image displayed on the displaysection 340 by imaging of the imaging section 220 is shown. The imagedisplayed on the display section 340 includes an image SI of themeasurement object S. In the following explanation, a plane coordinateon the image displayed on the display section 340 is referred to asscreen coordinate.

The control board 210 starts the designation and measurement processingby receiving a command for the designation and measurement processingfrom the control section 310. Therefore, the control board 210 acquiresa screen coordinate (Ua, Va) given from the control section 310 togetherwith the command (step S301).

On the right of FIG. 20A, the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) is shown on theimage displayed on the display section 340. On the left side of FIG.20A, a portion of the measurement object S corresponding to the screencoordinate (Ua, Va) is indicated by a point P0.

In step S301, a component of the Z axis (a component in the heightdirection) in a coordinate of the point P0 corresponding to the screencoordinate (Ua, Va) is unknown. Therefore, the control board 210 assumesthe component of the Z axis of the point P0 designated by the user as“Za” (step S302). In this case, as shown in FIG. 20B, the assumedcomponent of the Z axis does not always coincide with a component of theZ axis of an actually designated point P0.

Subsequently, the control board 210 calculates, on the basis of thecoordinate conversion information explained above, a plane coordinate(Xa, Ya) corresponding to the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) at the timewhen the component of the Z axis is assumed as “Za” (step S303).Consequently, as shown in FIG. 20B, a coordinate (Xa, Ya, Za) of animaginary point P1 corresponding to the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) andthe assumed component of the Z axis is obtained. Note that, in thisexample, it is assumed that “Za” is an intermediate position in the Zdirection in the measurement region V shown in FIG. 2.

Subsequently, the control board 210 adjusts the positions of the movablesections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5 and the angles of thereflecting sections 271 b and 272 b shown in FIG. 7 on the basis of thecoordinate (Xa, Ya, Za) obtained by processing in step S303 and theposition conversion information and irradiates the measurement light(step S304).

In this case, when the component of the Z axis assumed in step S302greatly deviates from a component of the Z axis of the actuallydesignated point P0, as shown in the side view on the left side of FIG.20C, an irradiation position of the measurement light on the measurementobject S greatly deviates from the actually designated point P0.Therefore, processing explained below is performed.

According to processing in step S304, an irradiation portion (a lightspot) of the measurement light irradiated on the measurement object Sfrom the scanning section 270 appears on the image acquired by theimaging section 220. In this case, a screen coordinate of theirradiation portion of the measurement light can be easily detectedusing image processing or the like. In the figure on the right side ofFIG. 20C, an irradiation portion (a light spot) of the measurement lightappearing on an image displayed on the display section 340 is indicatedby a circle.

After the processing in step S304, the control board 210 detects, as ascreen coordinate (Uc, Vc), a plane coordinate indicating an irradiationposition of the measurement light on the image acquired by the imagingsection 220 and detects a deflecting direction of the measurement lightfrom the angles of the reflecting sections 271 b and 272 b shown in FIG.7 (step S305).

Subsequently, the control board 210 sets, as a coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc),a coordinate of an irradiation position P2 of the measurement light onthe measurement object S or the optical surface plate 111 on the basisof the detected screen coordinate (Uc, Vc) and the deflecting direction(step S306).

As shown in FIG. 20C, when the irradiation position P2 deviates from thepoint P0, the screen coordinate (Uc, Vc) deviates from the screencoordinate (Ua, Va). Therefore, the control board 210 calculates anerror (Ua-Uc, Va-Vc) of the detected screen coordinate (Uc, Vc) withrespect to the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) and determines whether thecalculated error is within a determination range decided in advance(step S307). The determination range used at this time may be able to beset by the user or may be set in advance during factory shipment of theshape measuring device 400.

When, in step S307, the error (Ua-Uc, Va-Vc) is within the determinationrange decided in advance, the control board 210 specifies, as acoordinate designated by the user, the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) decidedin the immediately preceding step S306 (step S308) and ends thedesignation and measurement processing. Thereafter, the control board210 gives the specified coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) to the control section310.

When, in step S307, the error (Ua-Uc, Va-Vc) is outside thedetermination range decided in advance, the control board 210 adjuststhe deflecting direction of the measurement light on the basis of theerror (Ua-Uc, Va-Vc) (step S309). Specifically, for example, a relationbetween errors on screen coordinates corresponding to the X axis and theY axis and angles of the reflecting sections 271 b and 272 b that shouldbe adjusted is stored in the storing section 320 in advance as an errorcorrespondence relation. Then, as indicated by a white arrow in FIG.21A, the control board 210 finely adjusts the deflecting direction ofthe measurement light on the basis of the calculated error (Ua-Uc,Va-Vc) and the error correspondence relation.

Thereafter, the control board 210 returns to the processing in stepS305. Consequently, after the deflecting direction of the measurementlight is finely adjusted, the processing in steps S305 to S307 isperformed again. As a result, finally, as shown in FIG. 21B, the error(Ua-Uc, Va-Vc) is within the determination range. Consequently, thecoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) corresponding to the measurement pointdesignated by the user is specified.

In this example, the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the irradiation positionP2 is calculated by the processing in step S306. However, the presentinvention is not limited to this. The coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of theirradiation position P2 may be calculated by processing in steps S405and S406 in the designation and measurement processing shown in FIGS. 22and 23 explained below.

(10) Another Example of the Designation and Measurement Processing

FIGS. 22 and 23 are flowcharts for explaining another example of thedesignation and measurement processing by the control board 210. FIGS.24A and 24B are explanatory diagrams for explaining the designation andmeasurement processing shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. In each of FIGS. 24Aand 24B, on the left side, a positional relation between the measurementobject S placed on the optical surface plate 111 and the imaging section220 and the scanning section 270 is shown as a side view and, on theright side, an image displayed on the display section 340 by imaging ofthe imaging section 220 is shown.

When the designation and measurement processing is started, the controlboard 210 acquires the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) given from the controlsection 310 together with an instruction (step S401). Subsequently, asin the processing in step S302 explained above, the control board 210assumes a component of the Z axis of the point P0 designated by the useras “Za” (step S402). In this case, as in the example shown in FIG. 20B,the assumed component of the Z axis does not always coincide with acomponent of the Z axis of the actually designated point P0.

Subsequently, as in the processing in step S303 explained above, thecontrol board 210 calculates the plane coordinate (Xa, Ya) correspondingto the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) at the time when the component of theZ axis is “Za” (step S403). As in the processing in step S304 explainedabove, the control board 210 adjusts the positions of the movablesections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5 and the angles of thereflecting sections 271 b and 272 b shown in FIG. 7 on the basis of thecoordinate (Xa, Ya, Za) of the imaginary point P1 obtained by theprocessing in step S403 and the position conversion information andirradiates the measurement light (step S404). In step S404, a relationbetween the point P0 designated by the user and an irradiation positionof the measurement light irradiated on the measurement object S is thesame as the relation shown in FIG. 20C. Thereafter, the followingprocessing is performed such that the irradiation position of themeasurement light on the measurement object S coincides with or comesclose to the actually designated point P0.

First, the control board 210 detects the positions of the movablesections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5 and detects a deflectingdirection of the measurement light from the angles of the reflectingsections 271 b and 272 b shown in FIG. 7 (step S405).

Subsequently, the control board 210 calculates a distance between anemitting position of the measurement light and an irradiation positionof the measurement light in the measurement object S on the basis of thepositions of the movable sections 252 a and 252 b detected in theimmediately preceding step S405 and the light reception signal acquiredby the light receiving section 232 d shown in FIG. 4. The control board210 sets, as a coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc), a coordinate of the irradiationposition P2 of the measurement light on the measurement object S or theoptical surface plate 111 on the basis of the calculated distance andthe deflecting direction of the measurement light detected in theimmediately preceding step S405 (step S406).

According to the processing in step S406 explained above, it isestimated that the component “Zc” of the Z axis of the irradiationposition P2 of the measurement light is a value coinciding with or closeto the component of the Z axis of the point P0 designated by the user.Therefore, the control board 210 calculates, on the basis of thecoordinate conversion information, a plane coordinate (Xa′, Ya′)corresponding to the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) at the time when thecomponent of the Z axis is the assumed “Zc” (step S407). Consequently,as shown in FIG. 24A, a coordinate (Xa′, Ya′, Zc) of an imaginary pointP3 corresponding to the screen coordinate (Ua, Va) and the assumedcomponent of the Z axis is obtained.

Subsequently, the control board 210 calculates an error (Xa′-Xc, Ya′-Yc)of the plane coordinate (Xc, Yc) of the irradiation position P2 withrespect to the plane coordinate (Xa′, Ya′) of the imaginary point P3 anddetermines whether the calculated error is within a determination rangedecided in advance (step S408). The determination range used at thistime may be able to be set by the user or may be set in advance duringfactory shipment of the shape measuring device 400.

When, in step S408, the error (Xa′-Xc, Ya′-Yc) is within thedetermination range decided in advance, the control board 210 specifies,as a coordinate designated by the user, the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) ofthe irradiation position P2 decided in the immediately preceding stepS406 (step S409) and ends the designation and measurement processing.Thereafter, the control board 210 gives the specified coordinate (Xc,Yc, Zc) to the control section 310.

When, in step S408, the error (Xa′-Xc, Ya′-Yc) is outside thedetermination range decided in advance, the control board 210 sets, asthe coordinate (Xa, Ya, Za) set as an irradiation target of themeasurement light in step S404 explained above, the coordinate (Xa′,Ya′, Za′) of the imaginary point P3 obtained in the immediatelypreceding step S407 (step S410). Thereafter, the control board 210returns to the processing in step S404.

Consequently, after the deflecting direction of the measurement light ischanged, the processing in steps S404 to S408 is performed again. As aresult, finally, as shown in FIG. 24B, since the error (Xa′-Xc, Ya′-Yc)is within the determination range, the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc)corresponding to the measurement point designated by the user isspecified.

In this example, the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the irradiation positionP2 is calculated by the processing in steps S405 and S406. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this. The coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) ofthe irradiation position P2 may be calculated by processing in step S306in the designation and measurement processing shown in FIGS. 18 and 19.

(11) The Actual Measurement Processing

The control board 210 receives a command for the actual measurementprocessing from the control section 310 to thereby start the actualmeasurement processing. When the actual measurement processing isstarted, first, the control board 210 acquires a coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc)of the measurement point given from the control section 310 togetherwith the command.

Even if the measurement light is irradiated on the basis of thecoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the measurement point set in the setting modeand the position conversion information, a plane coordinate of anirradiation position of the measurement light on the measurement objectS greatly deviates from the coordinate of the measurement pointdepending on a shape of the measurement object S measured in themeasurement mode.

For example, when a component of the Z axis of the portion of themeasurement object S corresponding to the measurement point greatlydeviates from “Zc”, the plane coordinate of the irradiation position ofthe measurement light greatly deviates from the set plane coordinate(Xc, Yc) of the measurement point. Therefore, in the actual measurementprocessing, the plane coordinate of the irradiation position of themeasurement light is adjusted to fit within a fixed range from the planecoordinate (Xc, Yc) of the measurement point.

Specifically, for example, after setting a screen coordinatecorresponding to the acquired coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the measurementpoint as (Ua, Va), the control board 210 sets the acquired coordinate(Xc, Yc, Zc) of the measurement point as the coordinate (Xa, Ya, Za) ofthe imaginary point P1 obtained in the processing in step S303 in FIG.18. Subsequently, the control board 210 performs processing in stepsS304 to S308 in FIGS. 18 and 19. Subsequently, the control board 210adjusts the positions of the movable sections 252 a and 252 b shown inFIG. 5 and the angles of the reflecting sections 271 b and 272 b shownin FIG. 7 on the basis of the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) specified in theprocessing in step S308 and the position conversion information andirradiates the measurement light.

Subsequently, the control board 210 calculates, on the basis of thelight reception signal output from the light receiving section 232 dshown in FIG. 4, the positions of the movable sections 252 a and 252 bshown in FIG. 5, and the deflecting directions of the deflectingsections 271 and 272 shown in FIG. 7, a three-dimensional coordinate(Xb, Yb, Zb) of the portion on which the measurement light is irradiatedon the measurement object S and gives the three-dimensional coordinate(Xb, Yb, Zb) to the control section 310. Consequently, the actualmeasurement processing ends. Note that the control board 210 maycalculate, on the basis of the light reception signal output from thelight receiving section 232 d shown in FIG. 4, the positions of themovable sections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5, and the planecoordinate indicating the irradiation position of the measurement lighton the image acquired by the imaging section 220 shown in FIG. 1, thethree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of the portion on which themeasurement light is irradiated on the measurement object S.

Alternatively, the control board 210 may execute the actual measurementprocessing as explained below. For example, after setting a screencoordinate corresponding to the acquired coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of themeasurement point as (Ua, Va), the control board 210 sets the acquiredcoordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the measurement point as the coordinate (Xa,Ya, Za) of the imaginary point P1 obtained in the processing in stepS403 in FIG. 22. Subsequently, the control board 210 performs processingin steps S404 to S409 shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. Subsequently, thecontrol board 210 adjusts the positions of the movable sections 252 aand 252 b shown in FIG. 5 and the angles of the reflecting sections 271b and 272 b shown in FIG. 7 on the basis of the coordinate (Xc, Yc, Zc)specified in the processing in step S408 and the position conversioninformation and irradiates the measurement light.

Thereafter, as in the example explained above, the control board 210calculates, on the basis of the light reception signal output from thelight receiving section 232 d shown in FIG. 4, the positions of themovable sections 252 a and 252 b shown in FIG. 5, and the deflectingdirections of the deflecting sections 271 and 272 shown in FIG. 7, athree-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) of the portion on which themeasurement light is irradiated on the measurement object S and givesthe three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb, Zb) to the control section310. Alternatively, the control board 210 calculates, on the basis ofthe light reception signal output from the light receiving section 232 dshown in FIG. 4, the positions of the movable sections 252 a and 252 bshown in FIG. 5, and the plane coordinate indicating the irradiationposition of the measurement light on the image acquired by the imagingsection 220 shown in FIG. 1, the three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb,Zb) of the portion on which the measurement light is irradiated on themeasurement object S and gives the three-dimensional coordinate (Xb, Yb,Zb) to the control section 310.

(12) A Basic Operation Example in which the Setting Mode and theMeasurement Mode are Used

(a) FIGS. 25 to 30 are diagrams for explaining an operation example ofthe shape measuring device 400 in the setting mode. In the followingexplanation, the users of the shape measuring device 400 aredistinguished as the measurement manager and the measurement operatorand explained.

First, the measurement manager positions the measurement object S, whichserves as a reference for height measurement, on the optical surfaceplate 111 and operates the setting button 341 a shown in FIG. 8 usingthe operation section 330 shown in FIG. 1. Consequently, the shapemeasuring device 400 starts the operation in the setting mode. In thiscase, for example, as shown in FIG. 25, the setting screen 350 isdisplayed on the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1. The setting screen350 includes an image display region 351 and a button display region352. In the image display region 351, a currently captured image of themeasurement object S is displayed as a reference image RI. In thediagrams of FIGS. 25 to 30 and the diagrams of FIGS. 31 to 36 referredto below, a contour indicating a shape of the measurement object S inthe reference image RI and a measurement image MI explained belowdisplayed on the image display region 351 is indicated by a thick solidline.

At a start point in time of the setting mode, in the button displayregion 352, a search region button 352 a, a pattern image button 352 b,a setting completion button 352 c, and a surface information button 352z are displayed. The measurement manager operates, for example, thesearch region button 352 a to perform drag operation or the like on theimage display region 351. Consequently, the measurement manager sets asearch region SR as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 25. Themeasurement manager operates, for example, the pattern image button 352b to perform the drag operation or the like on the image display region351. Consequently, a pattern image PI can be set as indicated by analternate long and short dash line in FIG. 25.

After setting the search region SR and the pattern image PI, themeasurement manager operates the setting completion button 352 c.Consequently, the setting of the search region SR and the pattern imagePI is completed. A display form of the setting screen 350 is switched asshown in FIG. 26. Specifically, in the image display region 351,indicators indicating the set search region SR and the set pattern imagePI are removed. In the button display region 352, a point designationbutton 352 d and a reference plane setting button 352 e are displayedinstead of the search region button 352 a and the pattern image button352 b shown in FIG. 25.

The measurement manager operates the point designation button 352 d toperform, for example, click operation on the image display region 351.Consequently, one or a plurality of (in this example, three) referencepoints are designated as indicated by “+” marks in FIG. 27. Thereafter,the measurement manager operates the reference plane setting button 352e. Consequently, a reference plane including the designated one orplurality of reference points is set. As indicated by an alternate longand two short dashes line in FIG. 28, an indicator indicating areference plane RF set in the image display region 351 is displayed.When four or more reference points are designated, all of the four ormore reference points do not always need to be included in the referenceplane RF. In this case, the reference plane RF is set such that, forexample, distances between the reference plane RF and the plurality ofreference points are small as a whole. Similarly, when a reference planeconstraint condition for determining a reference plane is decided, forexample, when a condition that, for example, the reference plane isparallel to a placing surface or the reference plane is parallel toother surfaces stored in advance, is decided, when two or more referencepoints are designated, all of the two or more reference points do notalways need to be included in the reference plane RF. Note that aplurality of reference planes RF may be set by repeating the operationof the point designation button 352 d and the reference plane settingbutton 352 e.

Thereafter, the measurement manager operates the setting completionbutton 352 c. Consequently, the setting of the reference plane RF iscompleted. A display form of the setting screen 350 is switched as shownin FIG. 29. Specifically, in the image display region 351, theindicators indicating the one or plurality of reference points used forthe setting of the reference plane RF are removed. In the button displayregion 352, an allowable value button 352 g is displayed instead of thereference plane setting button 352 e shown in FIG. 28.

The measurement manager operates the point designation button 352 d toperform click operation or the like on the image display region 351.Consequently, as indicated by “+” marks in FIG. 30, measurement pointsare designated. At this time, when a plurality of reference planes RFare set, one reference plane RF is selected out of the plurality ofreference planes RF set as the reference plane RF serving as a referencefor designated measurement points. When the designation and measurementprocessing explained above is performed concerning the designatedmeasurement points and heights of portions of the measurement object Scorresponding to the measurement points are successfully calculated, theheights of the portions of the measurement object S corresponding to themeasurement points are displayed on the image display region 351. Atthis time, a color of the “+” marks may be changed to, for example,green to indicate that the heights of the portions of the measurementobject S corresponding to the measurement points are successfullycalculated.

On the other hand, when the designation and measurement processingexplained above is performed concerning the designated measurementpoints and the heights of the portions of the measurement object Scorresponding to the measurement points cannot be calculated, an errormessage such as “FAIL” may be displayed on the image display region 351.At this point, the color of the “+” marks may be changed to, forexample, red to indicate that the heights of the portions of themeasurement object S corresponding to the measurement points cannot becalculated.

When a plurality of measurement points are designated, it may bepossible to designate measurement route information. It may be possibleto set information indicating that, for example, a measurement route isset in the order of the designation of the plurality of measurementpoints or a measurement route is set to be the shortest.

During the designation of the measurement points, by further operatingthe allowable value button 352 g, the measurement manager can set adesign value and a tolerance as allowable values for each of themeasurement points. Lastly, the measurement manager operates the settingcompletion button 352 c. Consequently, a series of information includingthe plurality of measurement points and the allowable values are storedin the storing section 320 as registration information in associationwith one another. At this point, a specific file name is given to theregistration information. Note that the file name may be capable ofbeing set by the measurement manager.

As shown in FIGS. 27 to 30, indicators “+” indicating the positions ofthe reference points and the measurement points designated by themeasurement manger are superimposed and displayed on the reference imageRI. Consequently, the measurement manager can easily confirm thedesignated reference points and the designated measurement points byvisually recognizing the indicators superimposed and displayed on thereference image RI of the measurement object S.

An operation example in which the measurement manger operates thesurface information button 352 z displayed on the button display region352 shown in FIGS. 27 to 30 is explained below.

(b) In the present invention, the order of the setting of referencepoints and measurement points in the setting mode is not limited to theexample explained above. The setting of reference points and measurementpoints may be performed as explained below.

FIGS. 31 to 33 are diagrams for explaining another operation example ofthe shape measuring device 400 in the setting mode. In this example,after the setting of the search region SR and the pattern image PI, asshown in FIG. 31, the setting completion button 352 c, the pointdesignation button 352 d, the reference plane setting button 352 e, theallowable value button 352 g, a reference point setting button 352 h, ameasurement point setting button 352 i, and the surface informationbutton 352 z are displayed on the button display region 352.

In this state, the measurement manger operates the point designationbutton 352 d to perform click operation or the like on the image displayregion 351. At this time, as indicated by the “+” marks in FIG. 31, themeasurement manager designates a plurality of (in this example, five)points that can be reference points or measurement points.

Subsequently, the measurement manager operates the reference pointsetting button 352 h or the measurement point setting button 352 i foreach of the designated points to thereby determine whether the point isused as a reference point or used as a measurement point. Further, afterdetermining one or a plurality of points as a reference point orreference points, the measurement manager operates the reference planesetting button 352 e. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 32, one or aplurality of (in this example, three) reference points are displayed onthe image display region 351 as indicated by dotted line “+” marks. Areference plane based on the one or plurality of reference points isdisplayed as indicated by an alternate long and two short dashes line.Further, one or a plurality of (in this example, two) measurement pointsare displayed as indicated by solid line “+” marks.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 33, heights of portions of the measurementobjects S corresponding to the designated measurement points aredisplayed on the image display region 351. At this time, as in theexample explained above, the measurement manager can set design valuesand common tolerances as allowable values for each of the measurementpoints by operating the allowable value button 352 g. Finally, themeasurement manger operates the setting completion button 352 c.

An operation example in which the measurement manager operates thesurface information button 352 z displayed on the button display region352 shown in FIGS. 31 to 35 is explained below.

(c) FIGS. 34 to 36 are diagrams for explaining an operation example ofthe shape measuring device 400 in the measurement mode. The measurementoperator positions the measurement object S set as a target of heightmeasurement on the optical surface plate 111 and operates themeasurement button 341 b shown in FIG. 8 using the operation section 330shown in FIG. 1. Consequently, the shape measuring device 400 starts theoperation in the measurement mode. In this case, for example, as shownin FIG. 34, the measurement screen 360 is displayed on the displaysection 340 shown in FIG. 1. The measurement screen 360 includes animage display region 361 and a button display region 362. In the imagedisplay 361, a currently captured image of the measurement object S isdisplayed as the measurement image MI.

At a start point in time of the measurement mode, a file reading button362 a is displayed in the button display region 362. The measurementoperator selects a file name pointed by the measurement manager byoperating the file reading button 362 a. Consequently, registrationinformation of height measurement corresponding to the measurementobject S placed on the optical surface plate 111 is read.

When the registration information is read, as shown in FIG. 35, thepattern image PI corresponding to the read registration information issuperimposed and displayed on the measurement image MI of the imagedisplay region 361 in a semitransparent state. A measurement button 362b is displayed on the button display region 362. In this case, themeasurement operator can position the measurement object S in a moreappropriate position on the optical surface plate 111 while referring tothe pattern image PI.

Thereafter, the measurement operator operates the measurement button 362b after performing the more accurate positioning work for themeasurement object S. Consequently, heights from a reference plane of aplurality of portions of the measurement object S corresponding to aplurality of measurement points of the read registration information aremeasured. When an allowable value is included in the read registrationinformation, pass/fail determination of the portions corresponding tothe measurement points is performed on the basis of the allowable value.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 36, the heights of the portions of themeasurement objects S respectively corresponding to the set measurementpoints are displayed on the image display region 361. The heights of theportions of the measurement object S respectively corresponding to theset measurement points are displayed on the button display region 362. Aresult of the pass/fail determination based on the allowable value isdisplayed as an inspection result.

(d) FIG. 37 is an exterior perspective view showing an example of themeasurement object S. The measurement object S shown in FIG. 37 includesa joining surface CS joined to another member. A plurality oflongitudinal holes H are formed on the joining surface CS.

Concerning the measurement object S shown in FIG. 37, if a rough surfacestate of the joining surface CS can be grasped, it is possible toperform reworking for, for example, polishing or cutting a part of thejoining surface CS. If flatness of the joining surface CS can beacquired, it is possible to perform pass/fail determination of themeasurement object S. Therefore, the measurement manager operates thesurface information button 352 z shown in FIGS. 25 to 33 in order toacquire a deviation image and flatness in a state in which the shapemeasuring device 400 is in the setting mode.

FIGS. 38 to 42 are diagrams for explaining an operation example forperforming setting for acquiring a deviation image and flatness in thesetting mode. In FIGS. 38 to 42, only display content in the imagedisplay region 351 of the setting screen 350 (FIG. 25, etc.) displayedon the display section 340 shown in FIG. 1 is shown.

For example, in a state in which the measurement object S shown in FIG.37 is positioned on the optical surface plate 111, the reference imageRI is displayed on the image display region 351 by imaging themeasurement object S. In this state, the measurement manager operatesthe surface information button 352 z displayed on the button displayregion 352 (FIG. 25, etc.) in order to perform setting concerningsurface information. Consequently, the shape measuring device 400 canreceive a designated point.

Subsequently, the measurement manager performs click operation or thelike on the image display region 351. Consequently, a designated pointis received as indicated by the “+” mark in FIG. 38. In this case, anindicator “+” indicating the position of the designated point issuperimposed and displayed on the reference image RI. Therefore, themeasurement manager can easily confirm the designated point by visuallyrecognizing the indicator superimposed and displayed on the referenceimage RI of the measurement object S.

As explained above, the approximate plane is acquired by designating thethree or more designated points. Further, the deviation image region isset by designating the four or more designated points. Consequently,when the measurement manager further designates three designated pointson the reference image RI shown in FIG. 38, as indicated by a dottedline in FIG. 39, a deviation image region is set on the basis of fourdesignated points. A deviation image generated on the basis of the fourdesignated points is superimposed and displayed in a semitransparentstate in the set deviation image region. At this time, flatnesscalculated on the basis of the four measurement points is superimposedand displayed on the reference image RI.

In the deviation image, for example, a plurality of designatedcorresponding portions and a region other than the designatedcorresponding portions are displayed in a plurality of kinds of colorsor densities corresponding to deviations with respect to an approximateplane.

In the example shown in FIGS. 39 to 42, the deviations of the portionsare indicated by plurality of kinds of hatchings and dot patternsdifferent from one another instead of the plurality of kinds of colorsor densities. A portion having higher density of the hatching indicatesthat a deviation of a corresponding portion of the measurement object Swith respect to the approximate plane is higher. A portion having lowerdensity of the hatching indicates that a deviation of a correspondingportion of the measurement object S with respect to the approximateplane is lower. A portion provided with the dot pattern indicates that adeviation of a corresponding portion of the measurement object S withrespect to the approximate plane is lowest.

In this case, the measurement manager can easily grasp a rough surfaceshape of the joining surface CS of the measurement object S by visuallyrecognizing the deviation image. Note that, as shown in FIGS. 39 to 42,when the deviation image is displayed, a correspondence relation betweena deviation and a display form may be displayed together with thedeviation image. Consequently, the measurement manager can more easilygrasp the rough surface shape of the joining surface CS.

Thereafter, the measurement manager sequentially adds desired designatedpoints as indicated by white arrows in FIGS. 40 to 42. In this case,every time the designated point is added, an approximate plane isrecalculated. An approximate plane in the past is updated by the latestapproximate plane. Every time the designated point is added, a deviationimage is regenerated. A deviation image in the past is updated by thelatest deviation image. Therefore, by setting a larger number ofdesignated points concerning a desired region in the measurement objectS while visually recognizing the deviation image, the measurementmanager can easily grasp a more accurate surface shape of the desiredregion. With a deviation image shown in FIG. 42, the measurement managercan easily grasp that a plurality of swelling portions are present in asubstantially center portion on the joining surface CS of themeasurement object S.

(13) Effects

(a) In the shape measuring device 400 explained above, positions of aplurality of designated points on the reference image RI or themeasurement image MI including the measurement object S are acquired.Light is irradiated on a plurality of designated corresponding portionsof the measurement object S corresponding to the acquired plurality ofdesignated points. A plurality of coordinates corresponding to theplurality of designated points are calculated. An approximate planespecified by the calculated plurality of coordinates is acquired.Deviations of the plurality of designated corresponding portions of themeasurement object S with respect to the acquired approximate plane arecalculated. A deviation image is generated on the basis of thecalculated deviations.

In the deviation image, the plurality of designated correspondingportions of the measurement object S corresponding to the plurality ofdesignated points are displayed in colors or densities corresponding tothe calculated deviations. Consequently, by visually recognizing thedeviation image, the user can easily and intuitively grasp a roughsurface shape of a desired surface of the measurement object S.

(b) In the shape measuring device 400 explained above, the deviations ofthe plurality of designated corresponding portions are interpolated,whereby a deviation of a region other than the plurality of designatedcorresponding portions of the measurement object S is calculated. Atthis time, a deviation image is generated such that, in addition to theplurality of designated corresponding portions, the region other thanthe plurality of designated corresponding portions is displayed in adisplay form corresponding to the deviation calculated by theinterpolation. Consequently, even when the number of designated pointsis small, by visually recognizing the deviation image, the user caneasily grasp a surface shape of a desired surface of the measurementobject S over a wide range.

(c) The deviation image is superimposed and displayed in asemitransparent manner on the reference image RI or the measurementimage MI. In this case, the user can grasp a surface shape of a desiredsurface of the measurement object S while visually recognizing theexterior of the measurement object S displayed on the reference image RIor the measurement image MI. Therefore, the user can easily graspcorrespondence between the exterior and the surface shape of the desiredsurface of the measurement object S.

(d) In the shape measuring device 400 explained above, a plurality ofdesignated points are designated, whereby an approximate plane isacquired. Flatnesses of a plurality of designated corresponding portionswith respect to the approximate plane are calculated on the basis of theacquired approximate plane and deviations of the plurality of designatedcorresponding portions of the measurement object S. The calculatedflatness are displayed on the display section 340 together with adeviation image. Consequently, the user can grasp the flatnessestogether with a rough surface shape of a desired surface of themeasurement object S.

(e) With the shape measuring device 400 explained above, the user candesignate a measurement point and a reference point while confirming themeasurement object S on the reference image RI of the measurement objectS. A reference plane serving as a reference for height is decided by thereference point. Height from the reference plane of a portion of themeasurement object S corresponding to the measurement point designatedon the reference image RI is automatically calculated. Therefore, evenwhen the user is not skilled, by designating a desired portion of themeasurement object S on an image, the user can uniformly acquire acalculation result of height of the portion.

(14) Other Embodiments

(a) In the embodiment, when a deviation of the region other than theplurality of designated corresponding portions is not calculated by theinterpolation during the generation of the deviation image, thedeviation image may be generated using indicators indicating thedesignated points. FIG. 43 is a diagram showing an example of adeviation image generated using indicators indicating a plurality ofdesignated points. The deviation image shown in FIG. 43 corresponds tothe deviation image shown in FIG. 42. In the example shown in FIG. 43,the indicators indicating the designated points are indicated bycircles. The indicators are displayed in display forms corresponding todeviations of designated corresponding portions corresponding to thedesignated points. With this deviation image, it is easy to grasp theexterior of the measurement object S even when the deviation image issuperimposed and displayed on the reference image RI or the measurementimage MI.

(b) The deviation calculating section 33 may cause the display section340 to display, together with the deviation image, character stringsindicating values of the deviations of the plurality of designatedcorresponding portions of the measurement object S corresponding to theplurality of designated points.

(c) In the embodiment explained above, the plane acquiring section 32acquires the approximate plane from the plurality of three-dimensionalcoordinates corresponding to the plurality of designated points.However, the plane acquiring section 32 may acquire approximate planesof other types such as a cylindrical surface, a spherical surface, and afree curved surface from the plurality of three-dimensional coordinatescorresponding to the plurality of designated points.

In this case, the deviation calculating section 33 calculates, on thebasis of the approximate plane acquired by the plane acquiring section32 and the plurality of three-dimensional coordinates corresponding tothe plurality of designated points, deviations of the plurality ofdesignated corresponding portions with respect to the approximate plane.The deviation calculating section 33 calculates a deviation of a regionother than the plurality of designated corresponding portions of themeasurement object S by interpolating the calculated deviations of theplurality of designated corresponding portions. Therefore, thedeviation-image generating section 34 generates a deviation image inwhich the plurality of designated corresponding portions of themeasurement object S are displayed in display forms corresponding to thedeviations and displays the deviation image on the display section 340.

Consequently, concerning a plurality of types of surfaces such as acylindrical surface, a spherical surface, and a free curved surface inthe measurement object S, it is also possible to easily grasp roughsurface shapes of the surfaces. Note that, in this case, the deviationcalculating section 33 may calculate evaluation values such as acylindricity, a sphericity, and a contour degree according to the typesof the surfaces and display the evaluation values on the display section340.

(d) The display-form setting section 35 shown in FIG. 10 may set acorrespondence relation between deviations and colors or densities onthe basis of the operation of the operation section 330 in FIG. 1 by theuser. The display-form setting section 35 may store a correspondencerelation among a plurality of types of display forms. Further, thedisplay-form setting section 35 may switch, on the basis of theoperation of the operation section 330 by the user, a correspondencerelation among display forms that should be applied to deviation images.In this case, the user can switch and display, for example, a colordeviation image, deviations of which are associated with a plurality ofcolors, and a single-color deviation image, deviations of which areassociated with a plurality of densities.

(e) In the embodiment explained above, one deviation image is generatedon the setting screen 350 on which the reference image RI is displayedor the measurement screen 360 on which the measurement image MI isdisplayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Aplurality of deviation images may be generated on the setting screen 350or the measurement screen 360. In this case, the generated plurality ofdeviation images may be simultaneously superimposed on the referenceimage RI or the measurement image MI on the setting screen 350 or themeasurement screen 360. At this time, the display-form setting section35 may individually set correspondence relations among display formsapplied to the simultaneously displayed plurality of deviation images.

(f) In the embodiment explained above, the deviation image issuperimposed and displayed on the reference image RI or the measurementimage MI. However, the deviation image may be independently displayed.

(g) In the setting mode, each of the plurality of designated points foracquiring a deviation image and flatness may be deleted on the basis ofthe operation of the operation section 330 by the user. The positions ofthe designated points on the reference image RI may be changed on thebasis of the operation of the operation section 330 by the user. In thiscase, an approximate plane is recalculated and a deviation image isregenerated. Consequently, convenience is improved.

(h) The reference-image acquiring section 1 may perform image processingof the acquired reference image to thereby cause the display section 340to perform bird's eye view display of the reference image. Similarly,the measurement-image acquiring section 16 may perform image processingof the acquired measurement image to thereby cause the display section340 to perform bird's eye view display of the measurement image.Further, the deviation-image generating section 34 may perform imageprocessing of the generated deviation image to thereby cause the displaysection 340 to perform bird's eye view display of the deviation image.

(i) When a plurality of designated points are registered in the settingmode, heights of a plurality of designated corresponding portions of themeasurement object S corresponding to the plurality of designated pointsmay be measured. A plurality of height measurement results may beregistered together with the plurality of designated points.

In this case, the heights of the plurality of designated correspondingportions of the measurement object S corresponding to the plurality ofdesignated points are measured in the measurement mode. A differencebetween a measurement result of height measured in the setting mode anda measurement result of height measured in the measurement mode iscalculated for each of the designated points. Further, in themeasurement mode, an image in which the plurality of designatedcorresponding portions of the measurement object S are displayed indisplay forms corresponding to differences calculated respectivelyaccording to the plurality of designated points is generated as adifferential image. Consequently, the differential image is superimposedand displayed on the measurement image MI. Accordingly, the user caneasily grasp a difference between a surface shape of one measurementobject S measured in the setting mode and a surface shape of anothermeasurement object S measured in the measurement mode.

Further, in this example, by interpolating differences of the pluralityof designated corresponding portions, a difference of a region otherthan the plurality of designated corresponding portions of themeasurement object S may be calculated. Consequently, a differentialimage can be generated such that, in addition to the plurality ofdesignated corresponding portions, the region other than the pluralityof designated corresponding portions is displayed in a display formcorresponding to the calculated difference through interpolation.

(j) In the embodiment explained above, height of the measurement objectS is calculated by a spectral interference system. However, the presentinvention is not limited to this. The height of the measurement object Smay be calculated by another system such as a white interference system,a confocal system, a triangulation system, or a TOF (time of flight)system.

(k) In the embodiment explained above, the operation modes of the shapemeasuring device 400 include the plurality of operation modes. The shapemeasuring device 400 operates in the operation mode selected by theuser. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Theoperation modes of the shape measuring device 400 may include only asingle operation mode without including the plurality of operationmodes. The shape measuring device 400 may operate in the operation mode.For example, the operation modes of the shape measuring device 400 maynot include the setting mode and the measurement mode. The shapemeasuring device 400 may operate in the same operation mode as theheight gauge mode.

(15) A Correspondence Relation Between the Constituent Elements of theClaims and the Sections of the Embodiment

An example of correspondence between the constituent elements of theclaims and the sections of the embodiment is explained below. However,the present invention is not limited to the example explained below.

In the embodiment explained above, the measurement object S is anexample of the measurement object, the reference image RI and themeasurement image MI are examples of the real image, the reference-imageacquiring section 1 and the measurement-image acquiring section 16 areexamples of the image acquiring section, and the position acquiringsection 2 is an example of the position acquiring section.

The light emitting section 231 is an example of the light emittingsection, the deflecting sections 271 and 272 are examples of thedeflecting section, the light receiving section 232 d is an example ofthe light receiving section, the driving control section 3 is an exampleof the driving control section, and the coordinate calculating section13 is an example of the coordinate calculating section.

The plane acquiring section 32 is an example of the plane acquiringsection, the deviation calculating section 33 is an example of thedeviation calculating section, the deviation-image generating section 34is an example of the deviation-image generating section, and the shapemeasuring device 400 is an example of the shape measuring device.

Further, the display-form setting section 35 is an example of thedisplay-form setting section, the display section 340 is an example ofthe display section, the height calculating section 15 is an example ofthe height calculating section, the reference-plane acquiring section 4is an example of the reference-plane acquiring section, and theregistering section 6 is an example of the registering section.

As the constituent elements of the claims, other various elements havingthe configurations or the functions described in the claims can also beused.

The present invention can be effectively used for various shapemeasuring devices.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shape measuring device comprising: an imagingsection which images an image including a measurement region; an imageacquiring section configured to acquire the image including themeasurement region; a position acquiring section which acquires, as aplurality of designated points, a plurality of positions on the imageacquired by the image acquiring section; a light emitter which emitslight; a deflector which deflects the light emitted from the lightemitter toward to a point in the measurement region associated with theimage; a light receiver which receives, via the deflector, the lightfrom the measurement region associated with the image and generates alight reception signal corresponding to the light received from themeasurement region to provide a distance information calculated from thelight reception signal; a driving controller which controls thedeflector to deflect the light on a plurality of portions in themeasurement region respectively corresponding to the plurality ofdesignated points; a coordinate calculating section which calculatescoordinates of the plurality of portions in the measurement regionrespectively corresponding to the plurality of designated points on thebasis of (a) a deflecting direction of the deflector or an irradiationposition, on the image, of the light deflected by the deflector and (b)the distance information calculated from the light reception signalgenerated by the light receiver; a plane acquiring section whichdetermines an approximate plane on the basis of the coordinates of theplurality of portions in the measurement region calculated by thecoordinate calculating section; a deviation calculating section whichcalculates first deviations of the plurality of portions respectivelycorresponding to the plurality of designated points with respect to theapproximate plane acquired by the plane acquiring section on the basisof the coordinates of the plurality of portions, and calculates seconddeviations of a region other than the plurality of portions respectivelycorresponding to the plurality of designated points by interpolating ofthe first deviations of the plurality of portions respectivelycorresponding to the plurality of designated points; and adeviation-image generating section which generates a deviation imagerepresenting both the first deviations and the second deviationscalculated by the deviation calculating section.
 2. The shape measuringdevice according to claim 1, further comprising a display-form settingsection which sets a correspondence relation between deviations andcolors or densities, wherein the deviation-image generating sectiongenerates the deviation image on the basis of the correspondencerelation set by the display-form setting section such that the pluralityof portions are displayed in colors or densities corresponding to boththe first deviations and the second deviations calculated by thedeviation calculating section.
 3. The shape measuring device accordingto claim 1, further comprising a display which displays the deviationimage, superimposed on the image acquired by the image acquiring sectiongenerated by the deviation-image generating section.
 4. The shapemeasuring device according to claim 3, wherein the display furtherdisplays, on the deviation image, indicators indicating positionsrespectively corresponding to the plurality of designated points.
 5. Theshape measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the deviationcalculating section further calculates a flatness associated with theplurality of portions on the basis of the approximate plane acquired bythe plane acquiring section and the first deviations of the plurality ofportions.
 6. The shape measuring device according to claim 1, whereinthe position acquiring section further acquires, as a measurement point,a position on the image acquired by the image acquiring section, thedriving controller further controls the deflector to deflect the lighton a portion in the measurement region corresponding to the measurementpoint, and the shape measuring device further comprises a heightcalculating section which calculates a height of a measurement portionin the measurement region corresponding to the measurement point on thebasis of (a) the deflecting direction of the deflector or a position ofthe measurement point on the image and (b) the distance informationcalculated from the light reception signal generated by the lightreceiver.
 7. The shape measuring device according to claim 6, whereinthe position acquiring section further acquires, as one or a pluralityof reference points, one or more positions on the image acquired by theimage acquiring section, the driving controller controls the deflectorto deflect the light on a portion or portions in the measurement regionrespectively corresponding to the one or the plurality of referencepoints, the coordinate calculating section further calculates acoordinate of the measurement portion in the measurement region and acoordinate or coordinates of one or a plurality of reference portions inthe measurement region respectively corresponding to the one or theplurality of reference points on the basis of (a) the deflectingdirection of the deflector or the irradiation position, on the image, ofthe light deflected by the deflector and (b) the distance informationcalculated from the light reception signal generated by the lightreceiver, the shape measuring device further comprises a reference-planeacquiring section which acquires a reference plane on the basis of thecoordinate or the coordinates of the one or the plurality of referenceportions in the measurement region calculated by the coordinatecalculating section, and the height calculating section calculates, onthe basis of the coordinate of the measurement portion in themeasurement region calculated by the coordinate calculating section, aheight of the measurement portion in the measurement region with respectto the reference plane acquired by the reference-plane acquiringsection.
 8. The shape measuring device according to claim 1, wherein theshape measuring device selectively operates in a setting mode and ameasurement mode, the shape measuring device further comprises aregistering section, the position acquiring section acquires, as theplurality of designated points in the setting mode, a plurality ofpositions on the image, including a first measurement object in themeasurement region, acquired by the image acquiring section, theregistering section registers, in the setting mode, the plurality ofdesignated points acquired by the position acquiring section, thedriving controller controls, in the measurement mode, the deflector todeflect the light on a plurality of portions of a second measurementobject in the measurement region respectively corresponding to theplurality of designated points registered by the registering section,the coordinate calculating section calculates, in the measurement mode,coordinates of the plurality of portions of the second measurementobject on the basis of (a) the deflecting direction of the deflector orthe irradiation position on the image of the light deflected by thedeflector and (b) the distance information calculated from the lightreception signal generated by the light receiver, the plane acquiringsection acquires, in the measurement mode, an approximate plane definedby the coordinates of the plurality of portions of the secondmeasurement object calculated by the coordinate calculating section, thedeviation calculating section calculates, in the measurement mode, firstdeviations of the plurality of portions of the second measurement objectwith respect to the approximate plane acquired by the plane acquiringsection on the basis of the coordinates of the plurality of portions ofthe second measurement object and the second deviations of the regionother than the plurality of portions respectively corresponding to theplurality of designated points by interpolating of the first deviationsof the plurality of portions respectively corresponding to the pluralityof designated points, and the deviation-image generating sectiongenerates, in the measurement mode, a deviation image representing boththe first deviations and the second deviations calculated by thedeviation calculating section.